An Introduction to Doof Culture

Here he is folks.
Meet the Doof.
See his smile?
He looks like he is glad to see you.
Doesn't he seem happy? Does he seem familiar?

I first spotted the Doof, five years ago, spray painted on a scrap of green painted plywood that was duct taped to a concrete barrier on the outskirts of Martinez. I then spotted him around town in the form of stickers and imprints of what looked like a rubber stamp. The Doof's black and white contented expression stayed on my mind and I became intrigued by it and the whole image of the Doof.

I began to create in earnest the Doof onto and out of many different materials, filling up my snug little studio. In 2005, at the prestigious Nathan Larremendy Gallery in beautiful Ojai, California, I installed a snaking pattern of Doof creations that weaved their way around the gallery walls. It received a warm reception and created a small budding of curiosity about the Doof. The Doof even adorned the cover of a local newspaper.

In the months after the exhibition of the installation, I started receiving correspondence from artists around the country who also used the Doof in their art. I soon learned that the smiling face of the Doof was not limited to spray paint and markers. Astoundingly, the Doof has made its way onto many different artforms, by a variety of artists from anonymous amateurs to highly respected fine artists. To my amazement, I found out that the Doof is the inspiration for musicians, poets, and writers as well, with an impressive output of Doof music, Doof plays, Doof prose and Doof poetry. In a short time, I began to trade with the other artists and started to collect their artwork. This led to collecting all forms of the Doof, including newspaper reviews and articles and memorabilia. I did not know there was so much to the Doof considering I did not think anybody else, outside my small group of friends knew it existed.

Did you know that some artists consider the Doof lucky? Can you believe it is magical in some eyes? I myself find contentment in his smile. What do you see?

I now currently have a growing collection of Doof Culture to which I add to every day. I feel that it is important at this time to share Doof Culture with the world. Even though this marvelous culture is precariously balanced on the fringe of our society, the smiling face of the Doof, seen through its many forms and known through its many myths, is an important and vital part of our heritage of the human spirit.

Take for example artist and Doof visionary, T. L. Douveres, whose beautiful paintings of frolicking Doofs living in a dreamy California Landscape are such treasures of beauty and composition. They should not be stored away to be forgotten but displayed where they can be appreciated. Therefore I have created this website to deal with the global enlightenment of Doof Culture.

The Highlight of this ambitious project is the Doof Gallery. Each month, the Doof gallery will have exhibitions that focus on Doof art along with a brief history. The current show is the Doof Wood Collective, a multi-generation organization of souvenir artists who have been working out of the Pacific Northwest for the last 70 years. Scattered through the schedule will be surveys of my personal artistic explorations of the Doof that take the image from photorealism to abstract and down a few blind alleys.

Because of wonderful tools like a digital camera with video, and iMovie, I have been able to create short videos that really reflect my inner vision of the Doof. There are five very interesting but different videos up for your viewing on the Doof Movies page.

To accompany all the vast reading and viewing, you can also listen to a collaboration of spoken Doofword/music recordings that Frank Zincavage, a founding member of Romeo Void, and I made in his state-of-the-art music studio. So there you have it. Without a lot of kicking and screaming, I am happy to announce that the Doof Culture has been brought from the far edge of darkness and into the light. Enjoy!