Jensen Karp keeps the art world poppin' off

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It was just the brainchild of a young rapper with a cool million burning a hole in his pocket. But LA's Gallery 1988 wound up being a driving force in the reboot of pop art.

As its founder Jensen Karp tells it, the fine art industry was clogged by hoity-toity dealers offering nothing in the way of affordable art ten years ago. So he launched himself into the scene with fellow University of Southern California alum Katie Cromwell, setting up a space for pieces and artists inspired by the kitch and schlock of popular movies, video games, and other types of media with fierce cult followings.

That effort has led to a series of books, films and gallery showings across America. Karp sat down to discuss the latest of these outputs, "Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art 2," which documents the last few years of developments in the pop-cinema inspired art world, and his hilariously unpredictable route to fine art mavendom.