Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art show opening Yukinori Dehara at GR2 June 5 – July 7, 2010 Reception: Saturday, June 5, 6:30 – 10:00 GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to host The Jizo, an art show featuring new work by Yukinori Dehara. Dehara’s hand-painted clay depictions of debauched salarymen, brutalized gangsters, happy monsters, and other unique figures stand about 5-inches tall. Although the pieces are detailed and glossy, the subtle and intentional flaws of the Japanese artist’s self-described “crummy” style project more humanity than horror, and are oddly sympathetic. His sculpture, photography, and paintings have garnered a cult of collectors around the world, and are celebrated in books, figurines, and other merchandise, as well as by more daring art galleries around the world. For this show, Dehara’s inspiration will be Jizo, the Buddhist divinity who protects the departed souls of deceased children, babies, and unborn fetuses, whose likeness can be found in cemeteries and on roadsides in Japan. In Dehara’s words, these statues are “Japanese stone angels.” Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, as well as an online equivalent. An opening reception featuring a rare U.S. appearance by the Japanese artist will take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, June 5. For more information about Dehara, GR2, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact: Eric Nakamura Giant Robot Owner/Publisher eric@giantrobot.com (310) 479-7311
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[nggallery id=84] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Free to a Good Home 2 art show opening Group show at GR2 May 9 – June 10, 2009 Reception: Saturday, May 9, 6:30 -10:00 GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to host Free to a Good Home 2. The canine-themed art show will include contributions from the following artists: Apak! Andrice Arp Robert Bellm Aaron Brown Jeffrey Brown Shawn Cheng Catia Chien Cupco Eleanor Davis Evah Fan Susie Ghahremani Katherine Guillen Clement Hanami Nao Harada David Horvath Kerry Horvath Jay Howell Michael Hsiung Kaori Kasai Sian Keegan David King Jenny Kwok Diana Kwok Little Friends of Printmaking David Magdaleno James McShane Justin “Scrappers” Morrison Kiyoshi Nakazawa Tom Neely Tru Nguyen Saejean Oh Martin Ontiveros John Pham Silvio Porretta Pryor Praczukowski Rohitash Rao Aaron Renier Albert Reyes Martha Rich Brian Rush Emilio Santoyo Rob Sato Ryan J. Smith Jeana Sohn Ryohei Tanaka Daria Tessler Edwin Ushiro Steven Weissman Andrew J. Wright In the spirit of the artwork, the Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) West L.A. Shelter will be bringing dogs available for adoption to the opening with the hopes of matching them up with new owners! LAAS will also be accepting donations of supplies and food for the shelter. (Suggested donations: blankets, towels, unopened pet food, pet beds, pet coats, Timothy Hay, kongs.) Those making donations through the duration of the show will receive a coupon for 25 percent off their next purchase at GR2. A reception featuring many of the artists will take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, May 9.
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[nggallery id=46] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art show opening Marc Johns and Steven Weissman at GR2 May 8 – June 2, 2010 Reception: Saturday, May 8, 6:30 -10:00 GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to host Butter and Blood, an art show featuring new work by Marc Johns and Steven Weissman. Marc Johns draws almost daily, and has been for as long as he can remember. Once posted online, his humorous, witty, and thought-provoking drawings were quickly embraced, and earned him a fast-growing community of fans around the world as well as published works in Wired and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Whether it’s a man with branches growing out of his head that need pruning, or a pipe that’s trying to quit smoking, his characters are simply, sparsely drawn, yet speak volumes. For the show, the Victoria, Canada-based is preparing 30 ink-and-watercolor pieces that examine the public’s conspicuous consumption of trend items and branded goods, and how we blindly participate in what is a bit of a charade. Steven Weissman has written and drawn comics for Fantagraphics Books, Nickelodeon Magazine, Last Gasp, Marvel Entertainment (for whom he created the “Mini-Marvels” series), and numerous other publishers/publications. He won the Harvey Kurtzman Award for “Best New Talent” in 1998 with his acclaimed, ongoing indie-comic series, Yikes, which channels nonironic darkness of Chas Addams with the raw, youthful honesty of Charles Schulz and has been collected into several volumes. For the show, the Los Angeles artist is preparing a series of medium-sized pen, ink, and screen-tone pieces with themes such as baseball, proverbs, ghosts, and Barack Obama. Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, as well as an online equivalent. An opening reception attended by Weissman will take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, May 8. ###
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[nggallery id=70] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Art show opening Eleanor Davis and Katherine Guillen at GR2 January 16. 2010 – February 10, 2010 Reception: Saturday, January 16, 6:30 -10:00 GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to present Diplopia, a joint art show featuring Eleanor Davis and Katherine Guillen. Eleanor Davis is a cartoonist who makes work for both adults and children. The award-winning Atlanta, GA-based artist grew up on children’s comics, entered the Sequential Arts program at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and makes painstakingly crafted, whimsical, and non-condescending comics for young readers. Her most recent studio artwork involves pen and ink with watercolor with some gouache. Like the panels of her stories, it is bold yet full of mystery, with recurring themes that include “humanity in the face of destruction, people laughing and crying, etc.” Los Angeles-based artist Katherine Guillen creates paintings and prints that explore the tenuous connections between the urban and natural environments. Her most recent work–which resembles landscapes but is more symbolic than picturesque–investigates the way structures work as language on the landscape and how we use architecture to order nature and defy mortality. She says, “I am fascinated by the human desire to create, build, and idealize, which is both our redemption and our failing.” In addition to making gouache and mixed media paintings on paper, she will be showing some papier-mâché pieces. For this show, the longtime friends are also creating a number of large collaborative panels. Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, as well as an online equivalent. A reception for the Davis and Guillen will take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, January 16.
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Junk in the Trunk art show opening Group show and yard sale at GR2 August 15 – September 23, 2009 Reception: Saturday, August 15, 6:30 -10:00 Yard sale: Sunday, August 16, 11:30 – 4:00 GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to present Junk in the Trunk at GR2. One person’s junk is another’s treasure, and this art show is what’s in the middle. We’ve asked some of our favorite creative forces to contribute new, old, and random pieces of art that need new homes. All we specified was that they be well made and moderately priced. Participating artists are scheduled to include (but are not limited to) the following: Apak! Charlie Becker Christopher Bettig Michelle Borok Aaron Brown Ryan Bubnis Christine Castro Alex Chiu Allison Cole Eleanor Davis Jordan Fu Katherine Guillen Clement Hanami David Horvath Rama Hughes Mari Inukai Anne Ishii Kaori Kasai Ben King Tessar Lo Philip Lumbang Keyla Marquez Eric Nakamura Kiyoshi Nakazawa Tru Nguyen Albert Reyes Sonia Romero Brian Rush Emilio Santoyo Ashkahn Shahparnia Ryan J. Smith Daria Tessler Jeremy Tinder Lilly Todd Christiaan van Bremen Christine Vincent Chris von Szombathy Steven Weissman The next day, Sunday, Giant Robot will be hosting its first-ever yard sale, which will be loaded with DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, books, toys, clothing, and other artifacts, extras, and mementos from Giant Robot’s past. Longtime magazine readers and store customers should expect to see some familiar pieces and nice surprises, and yard sale aficionados won’t be disappointed. A reception for the art show will feature many of the artists and take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, August 15. The yard sale will take place from 11:30 to 4:00 Sunday, August 16.
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