ISM is opening a gallery in the heart of the art district of downtown Long Beach.
it will be one of the largest non-profit galleries in Southern California.
they are celebrating the grand opening with an exhibition and reception on Saturday, January 26th.

the opening exhibition is entitled “Hello, my name is __________.” and they invited artists to display OLD or NEW art in this show as they introduce the ISM: Gallery and their favorite artists to the city of Long Beach and Southern California.”

i sent off these three drawings:

gorinjyu

monkey gravity

papa gone fishin’

one of the LA publications, the district is doing a story on the ISM grand opening and picked my image “gorinjyu” to use as the cover for the magazine. when i get the magazine, i’ll post it on my blog.

i hope a lot of people show up for this grand opening to celebrate this wonderful organization.

ISM: gallery // grand opening

This Saturday January 26th we will be opening the ISM: gallery in a fresh
approach to art and social activism. The ISM: gallery is a familial center
exhibiting creative installations, artistic seminars and informative lectures
that will both educate and entertain while presenting an opportunity for
community involvement.

“Hello My Name Is…” the grand opening exhibition will feature artists
Aaron Israel, Adrien Biosse Duplan, 2H, Brian Viveros, Chet Zar, Derek
Hess, Famous When Dead, Grace Chee, Inky Dreadfuls, Haubs, KMNDZ,
Mark Murphy, Munk One, Sheesh, Stephen Anderson, The Dead Beatnik,
Yuka Yamaguchi, Zoso and over a 100 more artists.

ISM: a community project is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated
to benefiting the youth of our society through the artistic enrichment of
our community.

For more information on our organization and how to donate please visit:
www.ismcommunity.org

ISM: gallery at the Koos Art Center
540 East Broadway
Long Beach, California 90802

i’m doing a show at cafe pause in ikebukuro, tokyo. i’m showing some prints of my favorite drawings. initially, i was planning to show original drawings, but i realized it would be much easier to bring prints with me, especially since i’m travelling with my baby. we all came to japan at the end of december to spend new year’s with my family in wakayama. then paul, elijah and i went to tokyo to set up this show.

this is my first show in japan, actually. i started my art career in canada, years after i left japan in 2000. my work is pretty well known online, with my website and flickr and many links from different sites around the world. i write my blog in english, so my contacts have been mostly non-japanese. i’ve shown work in many different places, but never before in japan.

jean snow and elijah

the person who contacted me to do this show is jean snow. he’s a canadian living in tokyo who writes a blog about design and pop culture in tokyo. he found me after my drawings were linked from drawn!, even though the link was broken (he searched my name on google). jean asked me if i was interested in doing a show at cafe pause, where he sets up events. we arranged the time so we could also spend new year’s with my family on the same trip.

cafe pause is about a 10 minute walk from ikebukuro station. it stands on a corner lot and the two walls facing the streets have big wall-to-wall windows that create an open-air feeling. there are display areas on the pillars and on the walls (but not much wall space because of all the windows). i put up small prints on the bookshelves on the pillars and along one wall, and some big prints on the open wall space. i filled up the space with images tightly, using 44 prints in total (many of them used twice in different places). i made two prints (’inside of me’ and ‘after all’) so large (18 x 24″) that their heads are bigger than lifesize. someday, i’d like to make huge prints that would swallow our minds and bodies –ultraman size would be nice.

it’s been awhile since i did a show in a cafe gallery - my favorite place to show my drawings. i like my work to be seen as part of daily life. people come to a cafe for a cup of coffee or to meet someone, not specifically to look at art. when they go home that evening to have a bath, if they suddenly remember my drawings and the images come out of the mist of the bath, that would be wonderful.

the show will be on until january 13th. the prints are all for sale, and there are free postcards, too.

cafe pause
2-14-12-1F Minami-Ikebukuro
Toshima-ku, Tokyo
171-0022

Phone: 03-5950-6117
Fax: 03-5950-6180

tonight is an opening night for a special benefit for API (animal protect institute) called “fight for flight” at thinkspace gallery in LA.

i submitted these three drawings.

the title is “lost but found”.

the title is ‘what’s in it?’

the title is ‘kamakura‘

they are for sale. please contact thinkspace gallery, if you’re interested in them.

“National Bird Day will take place on Sat, Jan. 5th, 2008 and we’ll be hosting a special exhibition entitled “Fight For Flight” that will have an opening reception on Fri, January 4th. The opening will be sponsored by Dewars and Grolsch and will take place from 7-11PM on Fri, Jan. 4th. There will be a special installation from P. Williams in our front room and an exhibition in our main gallery featuring over 50 artists from all across the U.S. and as far off as Japan, Germany, Australia, Canada and Scotland.

On Sat, Jan. 5th we’ll be open from noon till 6PM for further viewing of the show. We will be hosting a special coloring contest for kids taking place in our project room that afternoon to further encourage families to come through together and experience this amazing gathering of talent and hopefully walk away with some knowledge gained on our feathered friends and all things cute and furry that the API help to protect and defend.”

‘Fight for Flight‘ - special benefit for API in honour of national bird day

day 1 :: january 4th, 2008 opening reception 7 -10 pm
day 2 :: january 5th 2008 special family day 12-7 pm

thinkspace gallery
4210 Santa Monica blvd. (near Sunset junction)
Los Angels, CA

happy new year!  big love and a big smile to all of you :)