Exhibition: April 5 – April 27, 2003
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 5, 2003, 4-6 pm

Two Shows:

CHARACTERISM

COMIC ART

(go to Comic Art)

	Tim Slowinski
	Sung Soo Kim

"CHARACTERISM" (Pop Culture Art in the USA & Japan)

In collaboration with LunarBase Art Gallery, CWC International, Sozo-Shoten

Characterism features a global phenomenon in the contemporary art market initiated by a new generation of artists who are absorbed by pop cultures. This show emphasizes those arts which incorporate cartoons, comics, Japanime, Manga, and more, as their main element of expression. The show will examine how those pop cultures in the USA and Japan are effecting each other and the influences on the development of the current art market.

From USA:

James Allen, Stephen Auslender, Gerard Barbot, Daniel Borlandelli, Natty Bumpercar, Owen Brozman, Irene Christensen, Michelle Cohen, Jason Coughlin, Jeff Daiss, Donn Davis, Eben Dodd, Bethany Fancher, Daniel Genova, Halona Hilbertz, Phung Huynh, Forsans Jerome, Jena Jones, Damian Octavio Kaliyeski, Ryohga Katsuma, Sung Soo Kim, Emmanuel Kourounis, Aki Kumono, Estelle Levy, Tyler Lockett, D. Dominick Lombardi, Monika Malewska, Elim Mak, Mitchell Marco, Stephanie Maria, Juliet Ann Martin, Travis Mong, Edward Monovich, Anwar Montasir, Bruce Morse, Kelly Newcomer, Naoko Oshima, Miguel Paredes, Milena Popov, Jennifer Primosch, Carol Quint, Liane Ricci, Jason Michael Scuderi, Francie Shaw, Vicki Sher, Tim Slowinski, Eric Weil, Maki Yamamoto

From Japan:

Hitomi Aida, Kazumi Akagane, Yoshiaki Asai, Sawako Fuse (SAVAKO), Ryuki Fukao, Tatsuya Inoue (The Samurai Strawberry), Kacchi, Takaya Kaidou, Gensuke Miyake, Kei Masuda, Wataru Nakano (VATARU), Masayuki Ogisu, Shinobu Ohtsuka (Ninko Ouzou), Yumi Ota, Hisao Sakai, Yasuichiro Suzuki, Kaori Takahashi, (Kaokao Panda), Shoichi Tatebayashi (ROBICCO), Nobuyuki Yoshioka

Live performance by Candy Artist, Miyuki Sugimori at the opening!!

"COMIC ART" (in USA) & "MANGA & JAPANIME" (in Japan)

In collaboration with David J. Gabriel of the New York Comic Book Museum and David Bernstein of Grand Design Communications

Lecture Demonstration April Sun. Apr. 6th @ 3 P.M. Adm. $5
"How to Make a Comic Book – from Script to Finish" by Ed Murr

Comic Artists:

Kia Asamiya, Allen Burnstein, Cameron Chesney, Gene Colan, Tim Daly, Rizky Wasisto Edi, Dean Fleming, Gia Forakis, Peter Forakis, Leo Garcia, Don Hospiel, Phil Jimenez, Terrance Lindall, Joe Michael Linsner, Ed Murr, Seijuro Mizu, Jason Narvaez, Christine Norrie, Tristan Schane, Jeff Stevens, Adam Suerte Gould, Neil Swaab, Jim Valentino, Bill Wylie, Phyllis Yampolsky, and others

In the USA, comics as we know them began to appear in 19th century American Sunday supplements in newspapers, starting with Richard Felton Outcault's 'The Yellow Kid,' a character who would not seem put of place in the Characterism show. In the early 20th century the first true Western comic book was invented featuring Krazy Kat. By the 1940s, the so called "golden age of comics," the first superheroes were in full force, the most notable and still very much alive Schuster & Siegle's "Superman" which debuted in Detective Comics. In Japan, Osamu Tezuka revolutionized Manga ("whimsical pictures"), the comic book style which developed in Japan in the early 20th century. He was heavily influence by the advent of characters such as Disney's Mickey Mouse, but drawing his own characters. His success fueled the birth of anime and Manga as we know it today. In the Manga field he was the first to come out with a novel-length drawn story title "Shintakarajima" or 'Treasure Island." He used cinematic techniques such as panning and zooming. As Young Japanese Manga readers grew to be older, new story lines that appealed to adults began to be developed. This heralded a new age in Manga with characters such as Go Nagai's "Devilman" and "Cutey Honey" which were the first Manga series to be animated.

Another pioneering artist was Hayao Miyazaki who in the 1980s began a project which would take 13 years, but would turn out to be his most celebrated work, "Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind." With its themes of a struggling heroine, poignant depictions of a war torn world and themes of ecology, he won over many fans. Again, themes of nature vs. man appeared in his 1997 film "Mononoke Hime" or "Princess Mononoke" which was released in the West. And finally there was Rumiko Takahashi who got her first fame with a story about a slightly perverted teenage boy and an alien girl who loves him. She has had many successes both inside and outside of Japan and has become one of the richest women in Japan. Because of the success of Manga and Japanime, every day on American television we can Pokemon and Digimon, and play video games all incorporating Manga Characterism.

This show of comic artists includes many famous ones such as Kia Asamia and other greats in recent years, both East & West, as well as some lesser known underground comic artists. Thus a comparison can be made between these artists who m have chosen direct expression of character creation through comic illustration and their counterparts in the fine arts as seen in the "Characterism" show, who expand and reinterpret this comic book culture.