Preview: “Live On: Mr’s Japanese Neo-Pop” at Seattle Museum of Art’s Asian Art Museum

Japanese artist known as Mr., a member of Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki collective, earned worldwide attention by directing the music video for Pharrell Williams' "It Girl". His vibrant, Pop Art-inspired paintings of Anime characters and graffiti elements have been likened to "the display in one's dirty bedroom." On November 22nd, Seattle Museum of Art's Asian Art Museum will present his first major museum retrospective in the United States. As a full retrospective of Mr.'s career, the exhibit will include his early paintings and drawings, and film work, to a new series of paintings created for the show.

Japanese artist known as Mr., a member of Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki collective, earned worldwide attention by directing the music video for Pharrell Williams’ “It Girl”. His vibrant, Pop Art-inspired paintings of Anime characters and graffiti elements have been likened to “the display in one’s dirty bedroom.” On November 22nd, Seattle Museum of Art’s Asian Art Museum will present his first major museum retrospective in the United States. As a full retrospective of Mr.’s career, the exhibit will include his early paintings and drawings, and film work, to a new series of paintings created for the show. Also on display will be his “Give Me Your Wings” a complex and chaotic installation sculpture previously exhibited in 2012 at Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Although overwhelmingly colorful and happy-looking imagery, Mr.’s latest work represents psychologically unsettling events. For example, his installation takes viewers to a disaster scenario that recalls the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami debris. This ties into Mr.’s ongoing exploration of Japanese “cute” culture, where technology, manga, Anime, and video games are an escape from nightmarish reality.

“Live On: Mr’s Japanese Neo-Pop” exhibits November 21th, 2014 through April 5th, 2015 at Seattle Museum of Art’s Asian Art Museum.

Topics

Anime, Kaikai Kiki, Mr., pop art, Takashi Murakami

Alfred Steiner, Bosch, Mannerist Art, pop art, SpongeBob SquarePants

June 22, 2015

Ohio based artist Alfred Steiner has an admittedly bizarre predilection for anatomical and fragmented parts since his childhood. His watercolor paintings of pop culture icons, logos, and cartoon characters use unseemly pieces to build an image. His work could be described as modern day Pop-Mannerism, a combination of Pop Art and Mannerist art, and brings to mind that of Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who painted imaginative faces made of fruits and other objects. However, Steiner credits more surprising and eclectic inspirations, such as the fantastic imagery of Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch and fictional characters like Homer Simpson.

Jet Martinez Remixes Mexican Folk Art in New Floral Works

Black Book Gallery, Jet Martinez, mural, pop art, urban art

June 4, 2015

Mural artist and painter Jet Martinez (covered here) is using his art to carry on an ancient form of visual inspiration while providing a contemporary spin on folk art motifs. For Martinez, each painting is an opportunity to preserve heritage as well as build our living community through creativity and public interactions. Originally from Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, Martinez attended the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue painting and printmaking. In his current body of work, the artist focuses on a technique of painting floral works inspired by Michoacán lacquered plates – objects crafted by generations of Mexican artisans that has made up a primary industry in the area for generations.

Fixating on Fruit with Kii Arens

Kii Arens, La-La Land Gallery, pop art

November 12, 2016

We’ve noticed that graphic designer/artist Kii Arens likes fruit. Whether it's fruit made to look like other food or something entirely inedible like a briefcase, Arens both highlights the inherent beauty of the food group and bends it to his will. Above and below, you can see the several ways the artist works fruit into his work, whether it’s promotional posters or personal prints.

Opening Night: “Empty god CORE” by Kazuki Umezawa at B2OA

Japanese art, Kazuki Umezawa, Keiichi Tanaami, Mr., Takashi Murakami

October 16, 2014

Relatively new to New York's Chelsea gallery scene, B2OA recently debuted the highly saturated and frenetic paintings of Kazuki Umezawa. His exhibition "Empty god CORE" which opened last Thursday evening, was notably the multi-disciplinary artist's first in the United States. His large scale paintings may look digitally Photoshopped, however they are hand painted and intensely planned collages- Umezawa's reimaginings of modern day Japan, created by intricately cut and carefully placed paper images, combined with original drawings.

Preview: “Live On: Mr’s Japanese Neo-Pop” at Seattle Museum of Art’s Asian Art Museum

Painter Alfred Steiner Mixes Unseemly Images with Pop Culture Icons

Jet Martinez Remixes Mexican Folk Art in New Floral Works

Fixating on Fruit with Kii Arens

Opening Night: “Empty god CORE” by Kazuki Umezawa at B2OA

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