Up on Frankford Avenue, nestled in among North Philly row homes and art galleries, exists a Philadelphia icon-in-the-making: Pizza Brain, the world’s first pizza museum. Within its walls is held a treasure trove of pizza-related paraphernalia – the largest in the world, in fact, as certified by Guinness World Records – and an attached artisan pizzeria serving up slices and whole pies. While generally a destination for pizza memorabilia or cheesy chunks of pie, Pizza Brain is currently showcasing some contemporary artwork, specifically a thematically appropriate show by Kensington-based artist Jim Anderson, also known as GRIMGRIMGRIM.

GRIMGRIMGRIM (Jim Anderson) with his prints at the Pizza Brain show. Photo courtesy of the artist

The show which greets (or jeers at) patrons as they wait in line for their triangular treats is aptly titled “ALL HAIL THE PIZZA LORD!!!” Anderson’s prints cover the brick wall with a smattering of characters and pop-culture references, which offer an array of half-baked insights and surreal takes on the quintessential American cuisine.

By most definitions, the GRIM artwork is just that – a little gruesome and monstrous – but the artist renders his zombie-like faces with a raw sense of humor and more than a little disregard for those who might not be entertained. As the show placard indicates, the content of this exhibit is the ‘physical embodiment one gets when they eat three pizzas and drink two bottles of hurricane.’ As grotesque as it may first appear, with pieces of marinara-drenched pizza draped over faces and sloppily cut into pentagrams, Anderson’s brash and irreverent style is as fun and quirky as the shop that surrounds it.

GRIMGRIMGRIM, “The El Fries My Pizza Brain.”

Very much a slice of daily Philadelphia life under and around the El train, the images are gritty and graphical, drawing on inspiration from horror movies, graffiti art, hip-hop, face-painted Scandinavian metal and, of course, pizza. Lawn gnomes with harsh vibes and ski-masked pie thieves reside in a world dotted with beer bottles, monsters, and a little more pizza. Something cheesy about these images seems to be a running theme here and it’s certainly not just the George Romero cast.

Anderson touches base with local residents in such favorites as the disembodied head of “Pizza Watching in Kenzo” (like people watching but more delicious) and “The El Fries My Pizza Brain.” The latter is a nudge at the noisy, jostling train which rushes through the neighboring streets, and the stray dog-like figure would lend a wink as well, if his eye weren’t made from a metallic SEPTA transportation token. Elsewhere a Wu-Tang-meets-Scrabble print depicts late rapper ODB with the text “Za Rules Everything Around Me,” trading the cash-mindedness of the ’90s for an abbreviated, pizza-centric philosophy.

GRIMGRIMGRIM, “Za Rules Everything Around Me.”

Make sure to swing by Pizza Brain for a slice of goodness, but do it before March 31st if you also want to snag some of the wild GRIMGRIMGRIM prints comingling with this establishment’s already unrivaled collection of pizza-related fare. Pizza Brain is located at 2313 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia; 215-291-2965; pizzabrain.org.