If you’re a fan of Nakatomi Inc’s Tim Doyle, then there’s every reason to believe that you’re already familiar with the artist’s Unreal Estate series:  unveiled last year, it was easily the best idea Doyle’s  had for a series in years (the first round of posters were based on The Simpsons and Arrested Development), and the final products—some of them cleverly-designed Glow-in-The-Dark variants-- really do compose some of his best work.

Well, good news for those of you who’re already onboard with this idea!  This Friday, our friends at Spoke Art will unveil the latest installment of Doyle’s Unreal Estate series, and—from the looks of the preview images we’ve got for you after the jump—Unreal Estate 2 seems primed to make House Party 2 look like House Party 3 (or something like that; just click the damn link and meet me on the other side).

San Francisco’s Spoke Art Gallery has long been a friend of Limited Paper HQ (the Gallery’s owner once saved my uncle from what would’ve been a fatal beatboxing accident), so when they contacted us earlier this week asking if we’d help spread the word about Tim Doyle’s forthcoming Unreal Estate 2, we were perfectly willing to lend a hand.  Here’s what they had to say for themselves:

Spoke Art is proud to present, "UnReal Estate II" the follow up solo show by Austin-based illustrator and screen printer Tim Doyle. Last year, Doyle changed the pop culture landscape, quite literally, with his expressive re-interpretations of famous TV show locations…For 2013 the artist returns to our San Francisco gallery space to once again remap our collective consciousness though a whole new series of re-imagined iconic pop culture locations crafted through the medium of hand made screen prints and original pen and ink illustrations.

From Futurama’s Planet Express to the Twin Peaks‘ diner, no TV show location is safe from Doyle’s unique vision. Stalwarts such as the Simpsons, Arrested Development and the Sopranos make appearances once again this year, accompanied by some unexpected surprises including Mr. Rogers, Dr. Who and even Downton Abbey….Please join us on Thursday, February 7th from 6pm-10pm for the debut of UnReal Estate II at Spoke Art San Francisco. Tim Doyle will be in attendance and complimentary beverages will be served.

So, The Simpsons and Arrested Development are back (the prints above were released last year during the first round of this series), but in addition to that we’re also getting new posters featuring Mr. Rogers, Dr. Who, Downton Abbey, and The Sopranos.  That’s as geek-friendly a lineup as I’ve ever encountered…but whatta the prints looks like?  Let’s start off with an exclusive look at one of Doyle’s Sopranos prints:

 

  • No Fucking Ziti by Tim Doyle
  • 18x24”
  • Edition of 150

You’re probably looking at that poster and thinking, “It’s certainly attractive, sir, but I’m the kinda girl that likes to know what the artist was thinking and doing during the creation of any given piece:  what can you do for me?”  I’m glad you asked, because I just so happen to have a block-quote from Tim Doyle sitting right here to do the answering for me:

Sopranos is one of the shows I'm happy to revisit this time around. For last year's show, I did a print of Satriale's Pork Shop. I chose Satriale's over the 'Bing only because the pig statue on the roof was hilarious, and with that out of the way, I'm free to do the slightly more iconic Bada Bing strip club- purveyors of meat of a different kind. The great and frustrating thing about the Bada Bing is it is truly an ugly, ugly building. It's a corrugated metal structure with almost no windows and no style, situated next to an ugly highway. It's so perfectly 'Jersey' that you couldn't ask for more.

The club is Tony Soprano's escape from his 'real' life at home- a boy's club hangout full of his regular crew of thieves and murderers. What is interesting about his character is that he doesn't actually spend much show time hanging out and taking in the 'scenery'- his time spent at the club is mostly in the back rooms, playing pool or poker with his Mafia Lieutenants. Right in the middle of this temple of flesh and sex and booze, he'd rather just hang with the guys. It's when he's out of the club that he's more a victim of his desires and darker nature.

The Bada Bing's exterior filming location is a very real strip club- Satin Dolls, located in Jersey. To draw this print, I had to do a bit of research and found the signage for the existing club, and drop the famous Bada Bing neon on top. The 'Bada Bing Lunch Special' sign is a real sign the club had up- the actual location making a profit on it's fictional reputation. Like a lot of what I enjoy doing with this series, I tried to make what is a commonplace or downright ugly scene beautiful in a way.  I hope that comes through here.

And there ya go!  But enough jibba-jabba, let’s look at more posters (note:  we don’t have specifics on all of these, unfortunately, but it looks like all prints in this series are going to be 18x24’s, that OG versions of each will be available at the show, and that they’ll all be going on sale via Spoke Art’s online store this Friday:

 

In case you’re stumped on any of these:  first one’s Twin Peaks, then Dr. Who, followed by new prints for The Simpsons and Arrested Development, and—last but not least—a Firefly print there on the end.  This is far from everything that’ll be debuting at the show, but should give you a pretty good idea what to expect.  If you can’t be in San Francisco for Unreal Estate 2’s Friday opening (show runs through the 23rd, by the way), be sure to set up shop on Spoke Art’s online store if you’re hoping to snag a few of these once the online drop happens.

Rest assured we’ll be keeping you updated as well, so stay tuned for more as it becomes available.  In the meantime, if you’re an artist or gallery with artwork you’d like to see featured on Limited Paper (or if you’re just some lucky bastard who happened to overhear a bit of poster-related gossip while standing in the bushes outside Martin Ansin’s house) we wanna hear from you!  Email Limited Paper directly at LimitedPaper@gmail.com, and be sure that you’re following us on Twitter via @LimitedPaper for ongoing commentary, news updates, giveaways, and more!