West Coast Avengers (Part 1 of 4), 2009
Latex, watercolor & Ink on Canvas

Alex Pardee says: “There are a total of 4 panels in this series that, when hung next to each other, create one giant comic book cover that stands 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide. It was my biggest piece to date.

ON CREATING THIS PIECE FOR THE YOUTUBE OFFICES
I was given the opportunity to paint and design an art installation for various walls throughout the YouTube corporate offices in San Bruno, CA (which is why the color scheme is heavy on the red & gray). However, after I had installed all 4 panels on this huge wall on the main stairwell where EVERYONE had to walk by who entered YouTube, I got notified 2 days later that some of the higher-ups considered it 'demonic' and it got removed and relocated into hiding in the back of the offices.

I was pissed off at first because I really loved the way all 4 of the pieces looked when hung together, but then I just laughed it off and thought it was pretty funny that it scared someone enough to remove it INSTANTLY. I couldn’t really figure out what was 'demonic'about it, but then I submitted it to a magazine for publication later in the year and they said the same thing, only they specifically said, 'We are a mainstream publication and can’t publish anything with The Devil on it.' And that’s when I realized that the moment you color something red, even if it’s an ice cream cone with a pet squirrel, it automatically becomes evil. I try to make it a point to include something red in anything I do now, because I love The Devil! Obvoiusly."