Cool Stuff: Cinematic Macguffins Explored In Kiddie Pop Art Style By 100% Soft

Every artist has their own distinct style. Some styles are close to that of other artists and make them hard to distinguish. Others are so completely original, you know exactly who it is. Such is the case with 100% Soft, a Los Angeles based artist who makes work with tiny, simple, almost baby-like characters. It's impossible to see a piece of art by 100% Soft and not know exactly who did it.

Which is ironic considering the topic of his latest exhibit. It's called Lil Macguffins, which is the Alfred Hitchcock-coined term about an object in a movie that's important to the story, but wholly undefined. Some famous examples are The Maltese Falcon in The Maltese Falcon, the briefcase in Pulp Fiction or the sled in Citizen Kane.

September 12, the exhibit will go on display at the Bottleneck Gallery in Brooklyn, New York as part of a three person exhibit with Glen Brogan and Russ Moore. Below, read more about the MacGuffins exhibit by 100% Soft and see a bunch of the art.

Lil MacGuffins and more will all be on display from September 12-27 at the Bottleneck Gallery, 60 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY. An opening reception will take place from 7-9 p.m. For more information, and to buy prints, visit bottleneckgallery.com on Saturday.

Here are some of the images.

There will be 10 6x6 giclee pieces total in Lil MacGuffins, each signed and numbered in editions of 25.

So how did this idea come about? Here's what 100% Soft had to say:

I've always been a big movie fan, so I always jump at the chance to work with pop culture centric galleries like Bottleneck. For this show, I wanted to do something based around a specific, somewhat strict theme. While pondering that, I was doodling some illustrations of characters from Repo Man, one of my favorites. I started thinking about the Chevy Malibu carrying the alien body, and how it's one of the more fun modern day MacGuffins. That got me thinking about some of the other more famous ones: Rosebud from Citizen Kane, the case from Kiss Me Deadly among others. So many of them have such strong visual representations, so I thought it would be fun to collect my favorites into a series. Some are fairly obvious choices, some a little more obscure. Some adhere closer to the classic definition of a MacGuffin than others, but they're all in the right spirit.

And how did this style evolve?

I try and stick within two parameters: cute and simple. It's fun to isolate the basic elements of these sometimes unsavory or tough characters and turn them into something almost completely different than their original thematic intention. I want everything to be soft-looking, like you can squeeze it. Everything should be soft. Everything should be kawaii. Even the dark stuff. You should want to hug Ronan the Accuser!

Lil MacGuffins are just one of three pieces of the triple show at Bottleneck. Here are a few of the other pieces in the show too.