New Discoveries
-
NEW ACQUISITION | FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF Mötley Crüe Drummer TOMMY LEE
Tommy Lee × Nick DenBoer — Rare Surrealist Prints from Tommy Lee's Personal Collection
Nick DenBoer
“Bouncy Castle x Tommy Lee” — 2023 Nick DenBoer Collaboration Print | Inscribed to Tommy Lee | From His Personal Collection, 2023Three extraordinary surrealist prints by award-winning director, animator and digital artist Nick DenBoer (aka Smearballs) created in collaboration with — and inspired by — Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee.
These are not simply prints.
They are fragments of a creative collaboration between one of rock's most recognizable icons and one of contemporary digital surrealism's most imaginative artists. Loud, provocative, meticulously constructed, and infused with dark humor, they transform heavy metal mythology into visual hallucinations.
Adding even greater significance, all three works come directly from the Personal Collection of Tommy Lee.
When Heavy Metal Meets Baroque Surrealism
Controlled chaos collides with gilded decadence.
Set inside an extravagant palace-like interior exploding into manic absurdity, the composition is filled with exaggerated versions of Tommy Lee suspended in impossible motion.
Levitating bodies.
Flying balloons.
Tattooed clones.
Floating snakes.
Violent slapstick.
Baroque luxury.
Digital hallucination.
Every inch rewards closer inspection, revealing hidden jokes and visual surprises.
Created for Tommy Lee's song "Bouncy Castle," this work merges music video production, digital compositing, surreal photography, and contemporary satire into one unforgettable composition.
Editioned 1/2, making it among the rarest Nick DenBoer prints known.
A surreal collision of heavy metal mythology and contemporary digital art.
About Nick DenBoer (Smearballs)
Nick DenBoer is an internationally recognized Canadian director, animator, and digital artist celebrated for combining photorealistic compositing, CGI, stop-motion aesthetics, and surreal visual storytelling.
His unmistakable style blends:
• digital surrealism
• grotesque comedy
• hyper-detailed compositing
• punk aesthetics
• cinematic storytelling
His work has been commissioned by musicians, advertising agencies, and major international brands, while his collaborations with Tommy Lee stand among his most recognizable artistic projects.
Provenance
From the Personal Collection of Tommy Lee
These works were acquired directly from Tommy Lee's collection, preserving an authentic connection to one of rock music's most influential personalities and his collaboration with Nick DenBoer.
For collectors of contemporary digital art, music memorabilia, and cultural ephemera, this provenance substantially enhances both historical interest and collectability.
-
"Baby Tommy" (2023)
Rock Legend Reborn Through Digital Madness
Nick DenBoer
“Baby Tommy” — Tommy Lee x Nick DenBoer Surrealism Series Print (2023) | From the Personal Collection of Tommy Lee, 2023Rock Legend Reborn Through Digital Madness
"Reality shrinks. Ego mutates. Chaos becomes adorable."
An unforgettable collision of surreal imagination, punk energy, and darkly playful distortion.
Nick DenBoer transforms Tommy Lee into a bizarre miniature antihero—a tattooed infant complete with wings, oversized head, and impossible proportions—staged inside an opulent room descending into glorious insanity.
This exceptionally rare print is editioned 1/2, making it one of only two examples produced.
Even more remarkable, the reverse carries Nick DenBoer's personal handwritten inscription to Tommy Lee:
"Great jamming on this with you bro! xo Nick"
A deeply personal artifact documenting the friendship and creative collaboration between artist and musician.
A dynamic piece where rock legend meets digital surrealism—and reality bends accordingly.
-
"American Exceptionalism" (2021)
Satire Wrapped in Neon Consumerism
Nick DenBoer
“American Exceptionalism” (2021) — Artist’s Proof by Nick DenBoer (Smearballs) | From the Collection of Tommy Lee, 2021Grotesque.
Absurd.
Darkly hilarious.
Razor-sharp.
Created during the cultural aftershocks of the pandemic era, American Exceptionalism transforms the familiar supermarket into an unsettling theater of excess.
A nearly nude elderly woman calmly pushes a shopping cart overflowing with toilet paper and firearms through shelves lined with bizarre consumer icons, while crowns, brains, skulls, brightly colored objects, and commercial products compete for attention in every direction.
The title itself carries multiple layers of meaning—referencing nationalism, political mythology, consumer culture, panic-buying, and identity—while dismantling each with biting irony.
Rather than offering answers, the image invites viewers to confront the strange contradictions of contemporary society.
This example is an Artist's Proof (AP) from Nick DenBoer and originates from Tommy Lee's Personal Collection, adding exceptional provenance to an already compelling work.
