Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
[nggallery id=73] Eishi Takaoka River at GRSF, May 27 – June 21 Reception: Saturday, May 27, 6:30 pm – 10:00 pm GRSF is pleased to present rivers, the first San Francisco solo exhibition of Eishi Takaoka, a young sculptor based out of Kagoshima, Japan. Takaoka has participated in group shows in Tokyo and New York, as well as one-person exhibitions at Giant Robot New York and GR2 in Los Angeles. The exhibition will consist of over 100 works comprised primarily of intricately carved wood heads painted with raw mineral pigments placed atop empty glass medicine bottles. Although these sculptures all portray the same serene expression, their outwardly calm façade belies a world of bottled-up emotions. With nowhere else to go, these intense feelings manifest themselves in outlandish formations that sprout out the top of each figure’s head. Takaoka’s unique work is rooted in a personal fantasy world that is fueled by the emotional ups and downs of daily life in lower-middle class Japan. Heavily influenced by the expressive songs of the Japanese punk rock group Eastern Youth, Takaoka releases his frustration with life in Kagoshima and feelings of isolation into each of his sculptures. GRSF is located at 622 Shrader Street in the Upper Haight. 415-976-4773. (Monday – Friday 11:30 – 8:00, Saturday 11:00 – 8:00, Sunday 12:00 – 7:00)
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[nggallery id=64] Deth P. Sun at GRSF, April 29 – May 24 Reception: Saturday, April 29, 6:30 pm – 10:00 pm GRSF 622 Shrader Street San Francisco, CA 94117 gr-sf.com 415-976-4773 Giant Robot is proud to present the art of Deth P. Sun at GRSF. Upon graduating from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 2003, Deth P. Sun grasped the indie art world by the eyeballs with his paintings of mysterious catlike people, cloaked children, and floating animals. Standing on barren landscapes, suspended in water, and surrounded by clouds, Sun’s humble yet heroic characters instill the purity of a Precious Moments ceramic with the dark whimsy of a Maurice Sendak’s children’s book and epic proportions of a Brothers Hildebrandt airbrush mural. Since his first solo show at GR2 in the summer of 2003, the Oakland-based artist has taken part in no less than 60 group and solo shows, including two excursions to the U.K. Stylistically, Deth has been sticking with his popular chunky creatures, somber pallet, and dreamy backgrounds, but he recently been incorporating geometric shapes with brighter colors. Are these merely aberrations or a new direction? With 50 new pieces in the works, Sea Ghost will be a good indicator. Giant Robot is a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian and Asian-American pop culture that will soon celebrate its twelfth anniversary. In addition to running the GRSF art gallery and boutique, Giant Robot also operates locations in New York and Los Angeles, and publishes art books. Deth P. Sun’s art show opening will take place from 6:30 to10:00 on Saturday, April 29. GRSF is located at 622 Shrader Street in the Upper Haight. 415-976-4773. http://www.gr-sf.com/giantrobotflyer3.jpg
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HOPSCOTCH at GR2, April 22 – May 17, 2006 Reception: Saturday, April 22, 6:30 pm –10:00 pm GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445 – 9276 Giant Robot is proud to present hopscotch, a group show serving you at GR2. Artists will include Susie Ghahremani, Kelly Tunstall, Keith Jones, Jack Long, David Magdaleno, and Matt Moroz. Susie Ghahremani is a RISD graduate whose work has appeared in Mac Design, UTNE Reader, and Martha Stewart Kids magazines. Illustrations by the San Diego artist have a patchwork appearance that is simple in design, complex in execution, and all-around pleasing to the eye. For the show, Ghahremani is creating small studies of patterns, color, and objects, as well as larger works featuring ghosts, people, and ghostly people. Kelly Tunstall is a San Francisco artist who specializes in depicting women. Her style blends elements from ’50s Good Girl Art, ’60s surf style, and dolls from the ’70s. What sets her apart is that she’s female and it’s 2006. Her work both revisits and reexamines female imagery or the past. Her careful blending of brushwork, sketching, and textures creates deceptively clean-looking pieces that warrant examination for extended periods of time. Keith Jones can pack any surface with people, creatures, buildings, vehicles, devices, robots, aliens, and whatever else hits his stream of consciousness. As the viewer’s eyes follow the various paths of details, it’s clear that the Montreal-based artist’s ultra meticulous drawing style cannot conceal the hyperactive the nature of his mind. Published works and contributions include his own Hello Car mini-comic and the Bacter-Area art book from Drawn & Quarterly. Jack Long studied illustration at RISD but has gone in a different direction from the Providence art scene. Rejecting bright colors, silk-screens, pop-culture references, and humor, Long’s oil paintings are filled with more subtle, serious, and dark content. Citing Northern Renaissance painters as influences, the Philadelphia native and Los Angeles resident paints birds, boats, houses, trees, and wisps to personify his life experiences. David Magdaleno is a Los Angeles resident whose style has evolved quite a bit since he appeared in American Illustration 22. Moving away from his graffiti-inspired roots, his work has mutated into an inspired mix of horror comic strips, Japanese woodblock prints, vato prison tattoo lettering, and sci-fi and fantasy themes from prog rock. Magdaleno sporadically releases the Snacks series of self-published art comics. Matt Moroz is best known for making album cover art and a video for Canadian rockers Wolf Parade. His use of geometry, subdued colors, and ample space implies a visual code or hieroglyphics—almost like water-colored cave etchings. At once primal and refined, the Montreal artist’s body of work is welcoming in its simplicity yet cryptic in its vagueness. A reception will be held from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, April 22. Artists Jack Long, Kelly Tunstall and David Magdaleno will be in attendance.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art exhibition and reception Saturday, March 25th, 2006 | 6:30 – 10PM at Giant Robot New York 437 East 9th Street Between 1st Ave. & Ave. A New York, New York 10009 (212) 674-GRNY (4769) | www.grny.net Wounded but not Broken, Caroline Hwang’s first solo show at Giant Robotexplores the nooks and crannies of the heart, the vulnerability of love, the ache of love lost and the healing that follows. Hwang takes the cuts and scrapes of relationships and transforms them with fabric, stitching, paint and collage to create beautifully poignant work. In this show, Indian girls, wounded bears, piercing arrows and protective teepees all represent our desire to help heal one another and the caution with which we move forward. From the quirks of a heart in love to the aches of relationships gone awry, Wounded but not Broken is Hwang at her best: delicately honest, beautifully melancholy and quietly healing. Each piece is sadly comforting: awkward girls, distant boys, the sweetness of a crush, and the loneliness of regret. We are all wounded. These pieces, stitched, painted and crafted, simply offer the comfort that we are not alone. Caroline Hwang was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, grew up in Southern California and earned her Bachelor’s Degree at Art Center College of Design. She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York where she paints, stitches, prints and dreams of the day she can bring her dogs to live with her. Hwang’s work is influenced as much by her grandmother’s crocheting and knitting as it is by crafts, graphic arts, quilting, films and music, among other things. Her work has most recently been shown at Clementine Gallery (New York), New Image Gallery (Los Angeles), Motel Gallery (Portland) and 96 Gillespie (London). View her work at www.carolinehwang.net. Caroline Hwang will be in attendance for the opening reception.
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[nggallery id=87] Giant Robot SF Presents: Easy Like New works by Greg “Pnut” Galinsky 622 Shrader Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 March 25th – April 26th, 2006 Opening Reception: Saturday, March 25th, 6:30 – 10pm Giant Robot is pleased to announce a solo art exhibition with Bay Area artist, Greg Galinsky. Greg Galinsky’s images of Polynesian icons, nature, musical instruments, and decorative patterns evoke nostalgia and peacefulness. His sparse imagery, precise lines, muted color palette, and monochromatic backdrops create a strong graphic feel and very specific moods. This exhibit will feature works on canvas, glass, wood, and furniture. Originally from Southern California, Galinsky was influenced by skateboarding, surfing and living near the ocean. Galinsky studied at Otis Parsons School of Design but left to start his own clothing label. Recently, the Bay Area art fixture has worked with Barney’s, Levi’s, Vans Shoe Company, and The Charles and Ray Eames Office. For more information, contact: Derek Song Giant Robot SF, Manager 622 Shrader St. at Haight St. San Francisco, CA 94117 415.876.GRSF derek@giantrobot.com www.giantrobot.com / www.gr-sf.com
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