Saturday, November 13, 2010

L.A. SECRET STUDIO: DAVID CHOE & JAMES JEAN

L.A. SECRET STUDIO: DAVID CHOE & JAMES JEAN
10/29/2010 ~ 11/14/2010
@ Parco Factory (Shibuya Parco Part 1 6F)
10:00~21:00 (last day until 18:00)



So I went to Shibuya PARCO 1 to see David Choe and James Jean's work! The above image is the famous intersection (as seen in "Lost in Translation"). I took this picture from the Shibuya Station window which is located in front of the Tarou Okamoto's mural.

And here in the heart of fashion of the Tokyoites, was the "L.A. SECRET STUDIO: DAVID CHOE & JAMES JEAN" in Shibuya Parco 1.


This exhibition show cased works by James Jean and David Choe, showing both reproductions and original art, as well as a short documentary film about them both and this exhibition. They also had hand full of things on sell at the sight such as bags, key holders, and t-shirts.

I asked the desk and they told me I could take a picture so here are part of the exhibition space:




The top is part of the room that showed James Jean's work, and the bottom is David Choe's room.

The exhibition space was divided into three rooms (which one of them had the goodies for sell and the documentary) and had maybe about under 50 works total, but the original art showcased here brought much substance. Original work, such as this James Jean's sketch book that was on display on the top, or this original artwork which was actually for sell (which was still on sell when I was there!) on the bottom. (*the picture only shows part of the artwork)





He also had few reproductions from his sketch book on display, and if it was to scale (which I think it was, considering the size of the sketch book pictured above), I was amazed by his intricate detailed pen drawings. See my finger here, and the detail on the Asian looking mask!



Interesting thing was that this exhibition was produced by Good Smile Company, which apparently makes figures and Nendroids. I am not quite sure, but I think this was the reason why there were art pieces of "Black Rock Shooter" by both of these artists. Black Rock Shooter (BRS) is a girl with huge gun and one eye that is always covered in blue flames. But taking that "moe" type art to James Jean (which he depicted BRS as a girl covered in starfish and carrying a harpoon) and David Choe (BRS in his style) was interesting. I wonder what they really thought about this character. ^^;

Open till 11/14! If you buy stuff at the exhibition space, you can get a exhibition "eco bag." :)

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BIO:
James Jean:

James Jean is an artist based in Los Angeles, California. Immediately upon graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 2001, he became a regular cover artist for DC/Vertigo Comics in 2001. A unique mix of art historical and modern design references, Jean's covers received great critical and popular acclaim, winning him 5 consecutive Eisner Awards and 3 consecutive Harvey Awards for Best Cover Artist. This early exposure led him to create work for clients such as the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Records, Playboy, Nike, Target, and Prada. Since 2007, he has stopped illustrating in favor of personal paintings, book projects, and gallery shows.

David Choe:
David Choe (born 1976, Los Angeles, CA) is a muralist and graphic artist". His murals ornament walls from Los Angeles to Vietnam, as does his graffiti. He is known as much for his exaggerated vulgarity as for his aesthetic sense. His self-published (with a Xeric Foundation grant) award-winning graphic novels, Slow Jams, (1996) and Bruised Fruit (2002) introduced diverse groups of people to museum art, and alternatively to the graphic novel genre. His most recent book is Cursiv: Giant Robot presents a book of dirty drawings (2003). His first solo show was at a small ice cream shop on Melrose Avenue of Los Angeles' westside, called Double Rainbow, where his show was supposed to run a month, but stayed up for 2 years, constantly changing after pieces started selling better than the ice cream.

(both bios taken from http://www.ulike.net/)

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