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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
The sparkling and sweet demeanor of Japanese artist Hikari Shimoda's child subjects is equally enchanting and disarming, and full of possibilities. Born and currently based in Nagano, Japan, but raised on Japanese animation and comics, Hikari herself is not unlike her characters, living on the edge between a place deeply rooted in its beliefs and traditions and an exciting, however uncertain, future. First featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 29, and also on our blog, her works in recent years have been deeply impacted by the Great East Japan Earthquake, created from the perspective of a young artist living in the countryside, where social media and the books she reads are her main portal to the outside world.
Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles just announced that they are moving to a new space, and they are saying goodbye to their Circa gallery with one of their most popular group exhibitions, "Art Collector Start Kit 3". Opening this Saturday, the exhibit (previously covered here) annually showcases smaller works from both well established and new names in the New Contemporary scene. This year's show is no less eclectic and presents 12" x 12" sized pieces from Brandi Milne, Hannah Yata, Hikari Shimoda (HF Vol. 29), Hirabayashi Takahiro, KiSung Koh, Korin Faught, Lori Nelson, Lu Cong, Naoto Hattori (HF Vol. 7 and 35), Yoh Nagao, and Yoko d'Holbachie (HF Vol. 6 cover artist), among over 30 artists.
Last weekend, Pictoplasma (previously covered here) returned to Berlin for their 11th annual showcase of Contemporary art and design trends. Pictoplasma is well known across the globe for its character design annuals, but the festival also highlights fine art, street art, illustration, toy design, animation, and graphic design. This year saw a continued interest in character-driven Pop surrealism, which addressed modern societal issues through kitsch and cute characters by an eclectic roster. Over 40 international artists took center stage with an extensive program of workshops, lectures at Babylon theater, and two major exhibitions- Pictoplasma's main exhibition "Form Follows Empathy" at Silent Greene and the Pictoplasma Academy Group Show at Urban Spree.
Hikari Shimoda contemplates the nature of good and evil throughout her body of work. Deceptively naive at a first glance, her brightly-colored paintings feature child characters grappling with the destruction of the world. Their physical scars and zombie-like eyes hint at the brutality they have witnessed. Shimoda's latest solo show, which features new works as well as a retrospective, opens at Artcomplex Center of Tokyo on January 14 with a reception on January 17.
Though their styles differ, Hikari Shimoda (featured in HF Vol. 29) and Camilla D'Errico each use a fluorescent color palette and childlike, illustrative imagery to apprehend adult anxieties. The two artists teamed up for their two-person show "Niji Bambini" (which combines Japanese and Italian, the artists' native tongues, to translate to "Rainbow Children"), opening at Brooklyn's Cotton Candy Machine on October 10.
Last Saturday, CHG Circa offered pint sized works by their favorite artists in "Art Collector Starter Kit" 2. If you're like most collectors, you know how to buy art on a piece-by-piece basis, but may not be all that well versed in the art that is collecting. This show offers a solution. In the gallery's own words, "The motivation behind an exhibition of all 12”x12” paintings stems from the fact that newer collectors, or enthusiasts, who have never bought an original piece from one of their favorite artists, may now do so."
On August 30th, CHG Circa will showcase some of their favorite artists in their second installment of "Art Collector Starter Kit". The show was first created in 2013 to give emerging artists a platform to express new ideas, while creating a smaller-sized 'starter kit' of sorts for new collectors. This year highlights new faces to Circa's walls like Yosuke Ueno (above), Yukino Fukumoto (covered here), Hikari Shimoda, who debuted last month, and So Youn Lee- paired with Circa regulars Brandi Milne, Shag, Lola, Natalia Fabia, and more.
Eerily cheery and cheerily eerie, Nouar's resin-dipped mixed-media works debuted at her solo show "Satisfaction Guaranteed" at CHG Circa in Culver City on July 19. Her confectionary work — somewhere between painting and sculpture, two-dimensional and three-dimensional — was paired with Hikari Shimoda's (HF Vol. 29) equally vivid, candy-colored series of paintings in her concurrent show "Fantastic Planet, Goodbye Man" opening on the same night.
While in Western culture, bunnies are considered friendly, benign creatures, in Japan they represent lonesome spirits. Hikari Shimoda (featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 29), a private, contemplative artist, often likens herself to these bushy-tailed furry friends. Based in Nagana, Japan, Shimoda has made LA her temporary home as she prepares for her solo show at CHG Circa, "Fantastic Planet, Goodbye Man," opening July 19 in Culver City. Coincidentally enough, on the first day of her stay, Shimoda found and rescued a stray pet rabbit who has been her studio companion as she finalizes her new body of work.
Japanese artist Yukino Fukumoto’s emotional and transparent watercolor paintings seem to dissapear into a spectrum of cool hues. A young graduate of Japan’s prestigious Tama Art University, she is virtually new to the international gallery scene having only been exhibiting for a couple years. Her work can recently be seen alongside Hikari Shimoda (featured in Hi-Fructose Volume 29) in Tokyo based ACT gallery’s show “The Sailor”. Her style is a balance between ornate details that spill into dramatic washes and splatters. Read more after the jump.