It has been ages since I’ve posted on this blog.
Part of it has to do with the complete and total implosion of my personal life (Mai and I broke up after six years a little less than four months ago). The other part has to do with a faulty AirPort Extreme that didn’t let me blog from home.
But putting all that aside, I suppose I should blog about this awesome art exhibition I went to today.
Art Osaka was held at the Dojima Hotel, an upscale design hotel in Umeda. They took over four floors of the hotel and had a gallery turn each room into a mini-exhibition for their shop. There were tons of slightly deformed, dark takes on the human form, which seemed to be a trend at the show. But my own personal interests trending more towards the pop side of things, I thought I would introduce some works that caught my eye.
BTW – I don’t often go to art galleries/shows, but I really enjoy them. I went alone this time, but if anyone is interested in going to a show, or going to Geisai with me next year, drop me a line.
This is a work by Chih-Wei Chiu, an artist from Taiwan. I really like the focus on the eyes, and the vaguely sexual imagery going on. Use of color is incredibly as well. Very cool.
These are supposed to be steampunk robots that protect infant babies. The one in the center has a pacifier on its chain, and the hawk is actually a bottle. I don’t think you could call these simple figures, nor could you call them sculptures. They are a nice high-low juxtaposition that really attracts me. Very cool resin models.
This is by Masako Higashi, a 25 year old girl from Osaka who is currently working at a game company. Her work was my favorite at the show, and I wanted to buy a particular painting that matched the color scheme of my apartment. I like the mix of anger and innocence, and it is easy to imagine the emotions inside a Japanese girl that would encourage these kinds of works. It is a mix of the pop art cultural influences that youth in Japan are raised in, along with early 20s angst and a kawaii design aesthetic. I spoke with her for a while (she is very cute… I wish I could have gotten her number) and her work is awesome.
So there was my Sunday. Off to bed now. I ate too many homemade tacos and am damn near in a food coma.
