Recessive traits in Fishtown

The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.

email
font size
comments
0
share
options
 

Recessive traits in Fishtown

POSTED: Monday, February 9, 2009, 5:00 PM
Filed Under: Arts | Philaphemera
Her first buyer's remorse.

While cruising Frankord Avenue's First Friday this weekend, I came across a batch of quirky trading cards in Rocket Cat Cafe and Highwire Gallery. Called "Recessive Traits" cards, they juxtapose illustrations of children's book characters with images of M&Ms and supermodels. What makes 'em interesting are the witty captions at the bottom, which comment on the allure of commercial products and the transition from childhood to adulthood.

For instance, below a picture of a little boy looking eagerly at two cartons of cigarettes, the caption reads, "It was then that Billy made the choice that would haunt him forever: Winston or Marlboro." Or, describing a toddler with Reese's candy in his lap: "He would miss his family, that was true, but now he had something far sweeter to love."

The artist who's responsible for this work is Ken Miller, a Philadelphian and member of Highwire Gallery. You can buy his T-shirts, bags and greeting cards on recessivetraits.com, but the trading cards are nowhere to be found online. I'd like to do what the back of the cards tell me to and "Collect them all!" Clog readers, do you know where else I could find them?


Ken B. Miller
Posted 2009-02-09 22:06:11
Thanks for the mention in your blog! I've given out hundreds of those trading cards over the past few years. I don't sell them but I give them out at shows and when people buy my stuff. I also sell my shirts and greeting cards at Mew Gallery, 906 Christian St in South Philly. But, I'll make sure to leave more trading cards around town and at Highwire now that I know people are actually collecting them!
Posted by Holly Otterbein @ 5:00 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
Comments  (0)


About this blog
Here at The Naked City, you'll find breaking news, analysis, gossip and surprises about everything from crime and politics to the beating pulse of city life itself. We're good listeners, too:

Daniel Denvir: daniel.denvir@citypaper.net

Ryan Briggs: ryan.briggs@citypaper.net

Samantha Melamed: samantha@citypaper.net

The Naked City on Twitter: @CPNakedCity @danieldenvir @rw_briggs @samanthamelamed

Topics:
Blog archives:
Past Archives: