by Nastia VoynovskayaPosted on

Born in 1936, Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami was a pioneer of Pop Art in post-war Japan. His career began in graphic design — in the ’60s, he worked with rock band The Monkees and was the first art director of Japanese Play Boy — and transitioned to experimental film, illustration, painting and sculpture. The multi-disciplinary artist currently has an exhibition of new paintings on view at Mizuma Gallery in Singapore titled “Birth Death Bridge.” On view through September 29, the exhibition takes its title from Tanaami’s near-death experience when he fell extremely ill at the age of 45. The experience prompted Tanaami to explore the metaphor of the bridge as a transition from this life to the next. Take a look at some of the work in the show after the jump.

by Hi-Fructose StaffPosted on

Our next print issue of Hi-Fructose Magazine arrives in stores Jan. 1st, 2016! Featured in this issue is: A glaringly awesome cover by Japanese art icon Keiichi Tanaami. Tanaami’s history and story is amazing, and the result of which is a unique eye-splitting body of work we’re happy to bring to you in print. Plus Riikka Hyvönen’s “Derby Kisses”, Tip Toland’s meaningful hyper-real sculptures, Yellena James’ beautiful painted floral explosions, Mark Ryden’s latest show Dodecahedron, and the mighty ink pen of Kim Jung Gi. We follow this with extensive features on Eric White’s paintings of a Hollywood-gone-bizarro, Chris Mars’ frighteningly beautiful world, Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s amazing multi-expressional sculptures, and painter Margaret Bowland’s immersive work about power and identity. Also in this issue, punk rock historian and RE/Search founder V.Vale delves into the new photography book Shot in the Dark: Collected Photography by David Arnoff, plus much more! Pre-order copies direct from us here!

by Nastia VoynovskayaPosted on

While Miami Art Week has more art fairs than one could possibly attend in five short days, the event that started it all is Art Basel Miami Beach, colloquially known as the main fair. A major market place for the world’s most high-profile artworks, it’s the kind of place where snippets of conversations like, “Did you tell him 33 million dollars?” can be overheard while walking through the aisles.

by Nastia VoynovskayaPosted on

One of the first fairs to open during Miami Art Week, UNTITLED boasts a great number of experimental sculptures and installations that utilize unlikely media.

by CaroPosted on

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.

by Anna CareyPosted on

Last week, the art world descended upon Hong Kong’s sweltering streets and alleyways for a week full of openings, art parties, and Art Basel Hong Kong. Only in its second year, Art Basel Hong Kong represents an important shift in focus to the Western art market’s new frontier. The fair served as anchor for a week packed with art happenings in the city known as the gateway to Asia, Hong Kong.