I first met KRK Ryden at the opening of his Globoid Fun show in Atlanta at the end of 2008, which served as the Rabbit-Hole Gallery’s final show. When I was introduced to him, the experience quickly became about as surreal as one of his colorful works of art. Having read a preview of the show I had written for Stomp and Stammer magazine, Ryden told me it was the best description of his art he had ever read. (To show you just how weird this guy is, he even asked me to autograph his copy of the magazine.) When he found out I was going to a Gwar concert later that night, he said he had never seen Gwar and asked if he could tag along.

What kind of artist leaves his own art opening to go see Gwar? Well, the same kind of artist whose work juxtaposes wholesome ’50s imagery such as astronauts and quaint homemakers with monstrous gloops and globs, subversive overtones and ominous potatoes (whose multiple eyes are always watching). Turns out, Ryden’s work and Gwar’s show (which had a pro wrestling them on that tour) aren’t all that different, aesthetically speaking. I suppose that makes sense considering that Ryden has also illustrated Devo‘s Brainwasher, played theramin for Devo (as Ken the Magic Corner God) and whose brother is another famous pop surrealist named Mark Ryden. I ran into Ryden again more than a year later, this time at the grand opening for Atlanta’s ABV Gallery featuring the Ryden-curated show The Panelists. Somewhere along the way I mentioned to Ryden that I was thinking of starting an online magazine about wrestling that would focus on its more absurd aspects and pop cultural relevance. Before I knew it, Ryden had drawn up what would become the Wrestling with Pop Culture logo. With several other projects in the works (including the upcoming WPC comic strip), Ryden talks to me yet again about his upcoming releases, working with Devo and having Gorgeous George teach him to stand on his head.

When you originally offered to do the artwork that would become the Wrestling with Pop Culture logo, you told me a story about your connection to a wrestling icon. Remind me of the details of that story.

This is something that happened around ’64 when I was ten or 11 years old. My dad had a body shop on Mission Blvd. in Hayward, California. Next door was a muffler shop and he was waiting to get some stuff done and Gorgeous George was there. The guy at the muffler place had his phone ringer turned up really high so he could hear it. The phone rang really loud and Gorgeous George jumped like he was ready to get in the ring and start fighting. So that’s how my dad met him and that was at the peak of his career. My dad’s Swedish and Gorgeous George called him “the Swede.”

Anyway, my dad took me to his apartment, this nice clean apartment, and he was the friendliest guy I ever met. I wish I had met him more than one time. While I was there, he was showing me how to stand on my head by putting my elbows on my knees and raising up. I’ll never forget it, but I doubt I can actually still do it.

Not many people can say they learned to stand on their head from Gorgeous George.

I know, not many. I’m glad I got to meet him. He was one of the most famous guys in wrestling history.

And one of the most flamboyant and colorful.

He sure was. I remember that hair. Both he and my dad had really white hair. Personally I am a sports hater. I hate all sports except for wrestling. Wrestling has an aesthetic value to it that is appealing to me. Those Mexican wrestling movies from the ’60s and stuff were just so cool. It goes beyond sports. I think it’s almost a crime to call it a sport. I used to wrestle when I was a kid and that was one of the few physical things I did as a kid. The only time I ever went to a wrestling match was many years ago. I saw Jake “The Snake” Roberts, which was really cool because he was one of my favorite guys, and Junkyard Dog. I really liked that guy. It seems like that’s a part of wrestling history that has really changed now, all that flamboyance.

There’s plenty of that in the Wrestling with Pop Culture logo you drew. What was the inspiration behind that image?

That lucha mask was inspired by Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo. Since back as far as 1983, he’s had some really cool lucha masks. It was kind of a rare thing to see those things at that time, but now it’s gotten so popular you see them everywhere. In fact, the only portrait that Mark Mothersbaugh ever drew of me, he drew me in a lucha mask.

But your logo is pure surrealism based on those ’60s movies and stuff, with the volcano going off, the mystery cave, sexy ladies, robots and stuff. All the campy, colorful and cool parts of the wrestling world.

Speaking of Devo, how did you get involved with the band and what all have you done with Devo?

I met Mark in 1981. I was doing cover art for the second biggest bootleg record guy in the country. I had done some work on a Devo bootleg, but it never got to the bootlegger guy because he got busted by the FBI for selling unauthorized recordings and bootleg records. So I took that artwork to a small shop in southern California called Atomic Zorro’s. They printed these cool posters and this friend of mine took one to a party where Mark was at and Mark contacted me and we started working on a project called the Brainwasher, which was a newsletter fanzine for Devo.

He had two girlfriends at the time. One of them was Laraine Newman of Saturday Night Live fame. He invited me to Hollywood and I initially met Mark at her house. We discussed the Brainwasher and they were just getting ready to do their Oh, No! It’s Devo tour. I remember watching Laraine Newman, who was so sexy, wash dishes and thinking, “Rich people still have to wash their own dishes.” So I did that and we’ve been friends ever since. We still do occasional things and there’s a cool project we’re working on with these Jocko Homo heads.

You have a lot of other projects in the works. What can you tell me about some of those?

The big thing I’m doing is finishing up a children’s book called Double Talk and it’s being published by my brother’s company Porterhouse. It’s a book about homographs, which are words that are spelled the same, but have two different meanings and pronunciations. So I’m supplying images for each of these words.

I’m also designing a rifle game and a pinball machine with a guy named Wade Krause. He’s helped with these Jocko Homo heads at WWA Gallery, so we gave these heads to Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale from Devo and Jerry wanted to see each band member represented wit heads like that. So that’s a project Wade and I are really looking forward to doing. The rifle game is going to be outer space themed, which will be a totally surreal and wigged-out game. Wade takes old pinball machines and converts them and reproduces them.

Another thing I’m working on is a logo for a band from Florida called Ryden. I haven’t heard them yet, but I’m looking forward to doing the logo since they are such big fans of me and my brother’s art.

Then there’s the DEVOtional, which happens every year in Cleveland, in August. I go there and do stuff with Devo and lots of cool Devo-ish bands always show up. And I do my band, Ken the Magic Corner God, where I play theramin. I curate a touring art show called The Panelists, which features a lot of underground artists like Mark Mothersbaugh, where each artist is assigned to do a single panel of a comic book page that is six feet high. It’s all assembled into a complete story and it’s been shown in three cities so far. And there’s a group show in June that I’m a part of at the WWA gallery called Wasted. Wasted is about getting wasted, so I’m really looking forward to doing that.

Aren’t you also working on a graphic novel of some sort?

Yes. I did a story called “The Haunted Hearse” for Devon Devereaux‘s Tales of Hot Rod Horror: Volume 2. Hopefully that will be out this summer. Dark Horse has all the artwork, so it’s all up to those guys. “The Haunted Hearse” is a fun story about a hearse that’s haunted by different people. As you’re reading it, there are cues at the bottom of the pages to play certain music. We’re going to try to include a disc of the four songs that go with it and one of the songs is “Born Too Lose” by Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.

Another thing I’m working on, which is really exciting, is a vinyl toy for 3DRetro of a character called Moe Hawk, which is a little hardcore kid in a leather jacket and a huge Mohawk on a skateboard. He always has a joint in his hand and you’ll be able to remove the joint. So,that’s the Moe Hawk toy.

For more information, go to www.krkryden.com.