what did we love: KMR

led to KMR by ffffound...
and put up four consecutive tumblr posts of her work, i'm newly in love with this Japanese graphic artist KMR. i still don't know anymore about her yet. also because i can't read japanese and maybe her site would provide me with more information if i could.

at any rate. her pieces are gorgeous, the colors are magnificent, the line work so delicate and right. and there are just so many to look at so even if you don't like some you're bound to like at least one. i also love how she chose to post huge images of her work online.




definitely will keep looking at her work for more inspiration and to continue admiring it.

what did we celebrate

it's halloween today. while i myself have no...real excitement in dressing up, prancing around and joining the crazy throngs of people that will flood the streets of manhattan tonight...i must say it's quite the affair for a good number of this city's population.

this is my thinking concerning parsons students in particular celebrating halloween: either you go all out with the costume or you do nothing at all. there is no in between half attempt.

ANDY GOLUB
(all images from site)

one article of news surrounding the festivities that did catch my eye was that the artist (body painter) andy golub will be painting a number of topless women for the 36th annual new york halloween parade for the third year running. they will ride around in two vehicles also painted by the artist and will apparently look like "surreal characters" (melodika) - and he's been doing this body painting in public spaces throughout new york since 2006! it'd be pretty interesting to catch him in action. not that i would volunteer to be one of his canvases...




anyway: happy halloween for those of you keen on dressing up and eating candy.
(the latter of which i am also a fan of...)

what did we visit: LV

i went to the louis vuitton: a passion for creation exhibit at the hong kong museum of art this past sunday july 19. unfortunately - these are practically the only two photos i managed to take because you're not allowed to take photos in the museum. shown here is the triptych by gilbert and george entitled "class war, militant, gateway"dated 1986. the exhibit began may 22 and will last until august.

i particularly liked the takashi murakami section of the exhibition - murakami being one of my favorite artists. i actually liked the part featuring artist collaborations with LV and actual LV history of the three part show the best. the other two parts included one made up of local hong kong artists and one called "the collection, a choice" made up of a variety of large-scale pieces by significant European, American and Chinese artists from the Fondation Louis Vuitton Pour la Creation.

let me reiterate. i love takashi murakami. his art is amazing and i wish i could have taken a million photos. i particularly liked his two short animations.





hong kong museum of art
10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
t# (852) 2721 0116
M - F and Su 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
S 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
closed thursdays

louis vuitton exhibit entrance fee: $30 HKD ($3.87 USD) students half price

what did we LOVE: YUKO SHIMIZU

for Microsoft's Ultimate PC project
artists were asked to create series of 5 personal works using PC instead of Mac to showcase in Microsoft's new experimental art site UltimatePC.com

CIA Superhero Calandar 2009

YUKO SHIMIZU

an amazing illustrator and fine artist who is currently teaching at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in new york. from a traditional japanese family, she originally obtained a BA in advertising and marketing at waseda university before enrolling in SVA in 1999 and obtaining an MFA in illustration. she lives in new york and is the ex-roommate of james jean (another much loved artist of mine).

clients include: Microsoft, Pepsi, VISA, MTV, TARGET, T-Mobile, Neiman Marcus, Warner Elektra Atlantic Music, NPR, FUSE TV, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Pentagram, Sagmeister Inc.,
TIME, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, PLAYBOY, GQ, etc.

i love the asian flare and her trend in asian girls. she has a VAST portfolio with an incredible amount of simply spectactular illustrative work. categories include "fashion and lifestyle" "asian theme" "sex" "business and politics" "portraits" and "advertising." i would recommend taking your time to seriously click through her site, draw inspiration from it and let yourself be amazed. i love the woodcut quality of her work. the pastels and soft color schemes as well as graphic clean lines and the fantastical nature of her subjects and compositions. i have a particular interest in very imaginative detailed work. i believe her GAP product(red) shirts are still being sold currently so if you're interested - drop by a store and pick one up.

showing in new york (one work): Sept. 1 ~ Oct. 17, 2009
New York Spectrum Exhibition II Spectrum Exhibition II (group show)
The Museum of American Illustration at The Society of Illustrators: 128 East 63rd Street, New York City

also if you're in venice this summer: July 24 - 29, 2009 venice illustration course (workshop)
six day long workshop for illustrators of any level
taught and guided very individually and to student's ability
her two blogs are also great material:
DRAWGER
LOST AT E MINOR


PLANSPONSOR Magazine 2008
story about choosing between two choices
and
PLANSPONSOR Magazine 403(b) Special Issue cover 2008


Honolulu Magazine February 05 Hawaiian Valentine's Day
and
The Word magazine (UK) monthly supplement CD Now Hear This! cover for July 2009 issue


Fujiyama Sakura-Fubuki an image for a calendar to promote B&A Boutique


"Panda Bear Girl - The First Asian American Superheroine"
for "Artistic Utopia" a calendar book features personal work by illustrators. Designed by Murphy Design
(accepted into Society of Illustartor 47th Annual Awards)

what did we like: CHRISTY JASIONKOWSKI

pandaplant

CHRISTY JASIONKOWSKI

currently earning her BA in visual communications at seattle pacific university, she is a self proclaimed "student/artist/designer/person" (which i must confess i fit the description as do perhaps 75% of all my friends and acquaintances..)

she has the cutest etsy prints for sale and the cutest etsy store name "paper cuts and coffee huts"

i will always applaud student/artist/designer/persons because i have to support my kind. we're not that rare of a breed, but it's always encouraging to know someone likes your work.

PORTFOLIO
ON BLOGSPOT
ON ETSY

(it's like a bear with hershey kisses)

plant girl

what did we gallery hop

CHICAGO GALLERIES: RIVER NORTH

may 28 i covered a great deal of ground in chicago. i can't remember the last time i was walking and on my feet for so long continuously. i think i'm going to mark it as a first time personal achievement the fact that i managed to visit some thirty-two galleries in a day. (10:50 AM - 5:30 PM for six hours forty minutes? whoa) the following six galleries i think count as my top six.

(i will be focusing on the actual gallery itself and not the artists shown for this post, but there really is a lot to say after my excursion out yesterday)


ZOLLA / LIEBERMAN
325 W Huron, IL, 60610
mon - fri 10 - 5:30, sat 11 - 5:30
current exhibition: cheonae kim

the gallery space is amazing, open and large with high ceilings and great partitions. i also love the well spaced out pieces and the gallery guide was clever in that it follows your natural progression throughout the space. shows contemporary artists.


STEPHEN DAITER GALLERY / DAITER CONTEMPORARY
311 W. Superior, Ste. 404, IL, 60654
wed - sat 11:00 - 6:00
current exhibtion: marvin e. newman and yasuhiro ishimoto

both stephen daiter gallery and daiter contemporary are photography galleries. the former focuses on more vintage, older schools of photography and the latter shows work by young, up and coming photographers. both spaces are connected and though about medium sized, there is still a good formation of partioning and space.


ZG GALLERY
300 W. Superior, Chicago, IL, 60654
tue - sat 10:00 to 5:30
current exhibtion: molly briggs, also on show (personal fav. amy casey)

in a basement space, medium sized and in a building full of galleries (i think some five galleries in the one place), zg gallery makes an effort to show contemporary artists in their best light and i appreciate solo shows with only a few additional showing artists sectioned off.


MELANEE COOPER
740 N. Franklin, Chicago, IL, 60654
tue - sat 11:00 - 5:00
current exhibiton: group including michael kessler, alicia lachance, cheryl warrick, kathleen waterloo

extremely friendly and nice gallery owner and a well curated and selected exhibition of artists that though similar, appropriate for a group show, have clearly individual style. larger space with a number of smaller "rooms" sectioned off. this sense of ease and comfort when viewing. particularly good show (more on later). contemporary paintings.



ALAN KOPPEL GALLERY
210 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL, 60610
mon - sat 10:00 - 5:30
current exhibtion: absence and presence: the realm of feminine identity (group show)

great large space with two main rooms with tall ceilings, large windows, lots of floor. prominent space on chicago ave, not too many works cluttered or featured inside. contemporary new artists work in a variety of media.


ROY BOYD GALLERY
739 N. Wells, Chicago, IL, 60654
tue - sat 10:00 - 5:30
current exhibition: group exhibition

not too large of a space but is two levels with a variety of contemporary artists on show in a definitely wider spectrum of style and media. not sure if it's the appropriate word, but "quaint" comes to mind, it has a very neighborhood, off the street odd gem feeling to it. gallery owner plays classical music quietyly in background which is a nice change to silence or the strange galleries that chose to play the radio...

moma: contemporary art

moma:
an exploration from toe to head with randy neiman and amy revealed an exhibition on contemporary art that i thoroughly enjoyed (mostly) and am actually learning how to appreciate slightly more abstract art. slightly.

klara liden - projects 89: a representation of a decaying slowly fading city made out of scrap trash found in cities. set upon white cube representative of its use in modern art. reminded me of lab.(silly mapping and orientation class at parsons) but in a well executed way. and thoughtful.

jose leovilson: to make your soul close to me
text says "to make your soul close.....it depends if your lips"
i just like the text. and the text.

arturo herrera: a knock
reminds me sooo much of disney
colors are brilliant, cut out of paper and pasted on. can look at it forever and not understand - which is great.

don't even know the artist or title of piece
i'm just attracted to bold grabbing typography.

laaaastly
alighiero e boetti: tapestry of the thousand longest rivers of the world
sooooo amazing - all of it's sewn!!! this huuge panel of text. more photos later?
i was impressed at moma : p

and randy and neiman and amy make good company.
there randy. you can skip all of this post and just read these two lines. hah.