art exhibition – Lolita And The City

Sebastian Masuda’s “Colorful Rebellion” Exhibition 2/27 – 3/29

Sebastian Masuda visited New York City last year, with prospects of doing a future exhibition. That exhibition is called “Colorful Rebellion – Seventh Nightmare.” This will be his New York debut into the city’s art scene, which will certainly be a treat and definitely attract anyone interested in Japanese pop culture. There is not much else revealed about his art exhibition other than the theme being the “2 Deadly Sins of Sebastian Masuda,” but it will be bright, colorful, and just plain bizarre.

From February 27 to March 29 you will be able to visit the artwork created by the same person behind 6%DokiDoki (which has an online shop now). You’ll not only get to see his artwork in person, but see the man himself, Sebastian Masuda. According to a TokyoFashion, he’ll also be holding special performances from March 3rd – March 6th, where his alter ego will appear.

Keep track via the gallery’s website or on Sebastian Masuda’s official Facebook page for behind the scene pictures and more.

Colorful Rebellion – Seventh Nightmare
Kianga Ellis Projects
516 West 25th Street
Studio 306B
New York, NY

Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity 2/26 – 5/27

Women with Parasol – one of my favorite paintings.

Fashion and the Impressionism movement go hand in hand — what with artists paying astute attention to how their subjects moves and particularly how their clothing moves before creating a more dreamlike vision.

The Metropolitan Museum opened up the exhibit to the public yesterday – “Impression, Fashion and Modernity.” They pair various artworks with illustrations and actual pieces to examine how fashion greatly influences art and vice vera. Already receiving good reviews, this is an event not to miss out.

Something to check out on a rainy day like today.

Impression, Fashion, and Modernity
Feburary 26 – May 27, 2013
The Metropolitan Museum
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028

Ai Weiwei Sunflower Seeds 1/7 -2/4

Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London.

I discovered Ai Weiwei’s work while in London at the Tate Modern. I was fascinated by the fact that it was a simple exhibit of porcelain beads painted to look like sunflower seeds. What was also amazing was that an entire Chinese town in Jingdezhen individually painted all of them.

The original idea was that the exhibit was meant to be walked on, but after a few days the dust it created was declared a health hazard and penned off. Personally while it would’ve been interested walking along a bed of porcelain, it was still very Zen to look at it.

And now if you head over toe the Mary Boone Gallery in Chelsea, you’ll be able to experience it too. While the exhibit in New York won’t be as large it will certainly be impressive.

Ai Weiwei Sunflower Seeds
January 7th – February 4th, 2012
541 W 24th Street
New York, NY 10001

Artsy Fanart – New York Museum of Conan Art 10/31 – 11/3

If you have to time between now and Thurday (and a fan of Conan O’Brien) head uptown to time Warner Center to the New York Museum of Conan Art (or NY MOCA for short). In town for a limited time – literally a treat for Conan fans.

And this is literally an exhibit dedicated the tall, ginger-coiffed talk host. However for a short time, he’s returned to his beloved New York City and his fans have welcomed him with fan art.

From night lights to color-by-numbers to hand-painted acrylic nails to a talking chair (yes a talking, orange chair which you can get your picture taken and get Conan swag), the MOCA is an exhibit that is for fans by fans.

Time Warner Center is a great location for this once-in-a-lifetime event, what with it’s mall-like atmosphere in a Upper West Side location. That’s why NYFW is at Lincoln Center, placing fashion at a higher level, closer to art. Each piece also had a QRC code so you can look it up. Or if you want to check it out the old-fashioned way, click here.

Onto the pictures!

Pencillism – Get it?

Typography

Color by Numbers

Conan Amigurumi

These are not your mother’s acrylics.

Conan Barbera

Sleep tight with this night light

A how-to guide to Conan’s intro.

Did you go? What was your favorite piece? Did you get a poster (if so, I’m jealous).

New York Museum of Conan
October 31 – November 3, 2011
Time Warner Center
10 Columbus Circle
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10019

Uki Uki and Bye Bye Kitty

Thanks to an open house at Japan Society, I had the opportunity to see Bye Bye Kitty – the organization’s latest art exhibition. The open house was part of their “Uki Uki Nights” a way to bring in a youthful crowd with cosplay parade, go-go dancing, and games with the girls and guys behind Apple Kissa, a maid performance troupe created by the New York Anime Festival.

Bye Bye Kitty is an exhibit advertised as the darker side of kawaii – an antithesis to Hello Kitty, the well-known feline character known for its incredible cuteness. The first few rooms hold artwork that is a fusion of Japanese techniques (i.e. ukiyo-e style prints) with modern creative ideas. It is also one of the few exhibitions Japan Society has done that is more modern in concept.

When you first enter you gravitate towards an image of an at-like hill mound, only to realize the mound is composed of salarymen and women. It sort of hits home with the idea of Japanese men and women trying to climb to the top of the corporate ladder, as well as a play on Japan’s increasing unemployment.

There are two pieces by Manabu Ikeda, prints of massive proportions illustrating a version of a type of “Tree of Life.” I was greatly impressed by the use of cross-hatching and the time-consuming idea of it all that can only be seen through a magnifying glass, available nearby the two prints. Even then it’s still hard to take it all in.

All of pieces in the exhibit will shock and awe, but then again that’s what Japan is known for. Bye Bye Kitty is a representation of today’s view on Japanese culture – a mish-mash fusion of past, present, and future in art. One could also try to describe it as “gurokawa” a term that Gashicon uses to describe Hangry and Angry. While Hangry and Angry depict a more kawaii than grotesque, Bye Bye Kitty is more grotesque than kawaii.

I hope that Japan Society continues their series of Uki Uki nights because it’s an excellent way to expose today’s Japanophiles with the more examples of Japanese culture that’s not associated with anime, manga or Pokemon.

Were you at Japan Society’s Uki Uki Night (if you were what did you think)? What do you think of Bye Bye Kitty?

Bye Bye Kitty
March 18 – June 12th, 2011
Japan Society
333 East 47th Street

New York, NY 10017

212-832-1155

Admission: $15 / $10 seniors and students