Gabe Pons has become accustomed to painting on odd surfaces. The artist and owner of Ponshop Studio and Gallery, Pons is best known locally for his colorful graphic artwork, his skateboard deck designs and a growing portfolio of outdoor murals, including the recently repainted Fredericksburg Tower.
Ponshop came onto the local art scene 15 years ago when Pons and his wife Scarlett, a ceramic artist, opened their studio on Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg. Immediately people started “gifting” them odd materials to work with.
“People love to just give us things, like ‘here’s a box of metal stuff, could you use it?’” Pons said.
Ten years ago, the “gifts” were crates of old vinyl records.
Looking at box after box of scratched, warped and moldy vinyl, Pons decided to launch an exhibit using the records as a unique medium. It wasn’t his first foray into working on vinyl.
“In like 2011, I spray-painted some old records, so maybe that’s where the idea came from,” he said. “So, we decided to do a remix of a vinyl record show and then I adapted the way they are constructed so we can mount them.”
Ponshop opens its 10th Remixed Vinyl Album Art Show Sept. 5 with a reception from 5-9 p.m. on First Friday. The show will remain up through October in preparation for the annual Art Attack event. Interested artists have until Aug. 31 to deliver their creations.
Artists are given a 12” vinyl record mounted to a wood block to turn into a work of art. The only requirements beyond that are that the finished product must retain the shape of the vinyl record, and the art can’t extend beyond the original circle of the record.
“It’s a neat kind of leveling of the playing field,” said Pons. “So many people have never painted on a vinyl record before. And it slowly grew through the years.”
The first show included around 20 artists, and the collected artwork partially filled one wall. Then the idea caught fire.
“It gained some popularity,” Pons said. “I think just how eccentric it is — it’s different. There were a handful of artists that got super creative with it.”
With shape and size serving as the only limits, artists have done what they do best: get creative.
One artist used blades to cut and warp the vinyl, making the piece more sculptural than simply painting on its surface. Another used the record as the base for a mosaic. One record became quartzlike after an artist decided to treat the vinyl with a resin pour.
“The idea is that the show will be hung in this big array, and it changes the gallery in a really kind of neat way, because you have all these different kinds of styles,” Pons said. “The caliber of work has changed [over 10 years] in terms of we have more artists that really give, going above and beyond, 110%.”
The vinyl show draws a diverse group of artists, adds Scarlett Pons.
“We will get high schoolers on up to seniors, like the artists of Lake Anna are an older group,” she said. “So we have like 16 to 60 submitting pieces.”
All of the works are available for purchase but cannot be priced more than $275—making it a unique way to take home artwork at an affordable price.
The Pons say the Remixed show is so rich because it’s so accessible.
“You’re not obligated to do three months of work in oil on canvas,” Gabe Pons said. “It’s limited, so that’s nice.”
The local art scene has changed since the Pons first opened shop 15 years ago. For one thing, it’s gotten younger.
“I always say, ‘We have an art community because we have a grandparent art community,’” Scarlett Pons said. “We really established it, and I’m very comfortable saying that because some of our original members have passed away, and others are heading into their 70s, and they established this base of a really amazing art community. The health of an art community is age, you know?”
