Tokyo a la Mode. Web Magazine for Japanese Fashion and Urban Culture

Murakami and More

By Bobby /Oct 06, 2007
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I love going to art shows.  Usually they are at small galleries located around LA.  But now and then a museum will put up an exhibit that I want to check out.

Here are some shows that you might want to see too:

10/12 - 1/6
Stylized Sculpture: Contemporary Japanese Fashion from the Kyoto Costume Institute
Asian Art Museum - San Francisco

Japanese fashion: It’s more than meets the eye.

Conceived by acclaimed artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, this special exhibition spotlights the sculptural essence of contemporary Japanese fashion through the works of Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and others. Debuting alongside the 21 innovative creations of these celebrated designers are four never-before-seen black-and-white photographs by Sugimoto that capture the garments’ shadows, lines, and fullness of form.

10/10 - 1/6
Beyond Ultraman
Seven Artists Explore the Vinyl Frontier
Pasadena Museum of California Art
10/11 opening reception

A longtime generator of American counterculture, California has become the landing site for Asian vinyl toy culture as well. Beyond Ultraman examines the vinyl art toy landscape as seen in the work of seven California artists who reflect that movement, turning art into toys and vice versa. Through originality, wit, flippancy and brilliance, each artist in the exhibition has elevated the vinyl art toy movement and captured the attention of two audiences: the mainstream art community and the toy community. Featuring the work of Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, David Gonzales, David Horvath, Sun-Min Kim, Brian McCarty and Mark Nagata, Beyond Ultraman is a collaboration between the PMCA and the Los Angeles Toy, Doll and Amusements Museum (LATDA).

10/29 - 2/11
Murakami
Geffen Contemporary - Los Angeles

Arguably the most internationally acclaimed artist to emerge from Asia in the postwar era, Murakami effortlessly navigates between the worlds of fine art and popular-culture. Featuring the artist best known for his cartoon-like, “superflat” style, this large-scale retrospective includes key selections that span the artist’s career from the early 1990s to the present. The exhibition will include early political works that critique Japan’s consumer culture and talent industries, the ongoing evolution of Murakami’s anime alter-ego, DOB, and an exploration of his large-scale otaku-inspired figure projects of the late 1990s. The artist will also premiere a new body of work that centers on a feature-length animated film. In addition, a fully functional Louis Vuitton boutique will be included as part of the exhibition, highlighting the artist’s continued collaboration with the company. The exhibition is curated by MOCA Chief Curator Paul Schimmel with Research Assistant Mika Yoshitake and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

11/3 - 1/13
Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues Art Exhibition
Japanese American National Museum
Los Angeles, CA

The Biennale’s works will range from Pryor Praczukowski’s cinematic photography to David Choe’s graffiti-like murals. The pieces in between include panels by leading indie-comics artist Adrian Tomine and the pop culture inspired works of Seonna Hong, Gary Baseman, APAK, Souther Salazar, and Saelee Oh. Sashie Masakatsu’s oil paintings reflect the nostalgia of pop culture-influenced youth while Eishi Takaoka’s sculptures can dominate a room with their meditative presence.