Imaginary friends

Imaginary Friends was originally an idea from Mark Fridman (M-19) which he shared with a few of his friends: bring together a group of artists and work together as a cooperative to establish careers for themselves. Making art together since they were 14, Mark, David (Nandez) and Charlie Biondi continued to pursue their work independently and finally came together again at the end of 2022. In that time, Mark had met a business-minded friend who also had passion for art in Rob (Trackpad), who, with Charlie and David, formed the founding members of the company. The founders wanted to not only create a structure to fund their artistic work but also demonstrate that cooperative organizations were possible and even more effective than hierarchical models. Recognizing that much of the artist’s power is taken away in traditional record deal and gallery partnerships, the founding members committed to a structure where any artist that joins the organization has an equal ownership share, voting power in company decisions and control over the sale and promotion of their work. Since its founding in January, Imaginary Friends has begun to lay the groundwork for establishing and promoting the work of each individual owner as well as collaborative projects between them. We hope to continue this work and grow the ownership by bringing in artists with similar interests and values.