Just heard about this cool art show opening this week in Hollywood. Entitled CRAZIANS!, it's showcasing over 30 super talented Asian American/Canadian artists with a fun theme of crazy art. Featuring original works by Aya Kakeda, Dave Chung, David Ho, Daniel Hyun Lim, Derek Yu, Egomochi, Eric Toyofuku, Howie Tsui, Julienne Hsu, Lawrence Yang, Mari Araki, Mari Inukai, Martin Hsu, Michael C. Hsiung, Ming Doyle, Motomichi Nakamura, Nanospores, Skye Hwang, Steve Kim, Taiyo La Paix, and more. From the press release:
With the ongoing prevalence of Asian culture in America, "the most common misconception is that this is all new, crazy and edgy," says Moye Ishimoto. "On the other hand, most Asian Americans feel like we've already been there and done that." World of Wonder invited a group of Asian American/Canadian artists to showcase their response to their culture's transformation into American pop.
"We're constantly inundated with our own culture as interpreted by the West," Moye continues. "This show is our blatant response about taking ownership of our cultures--and to show that we can do more than just draw oversized anime eyes." The exhibition features over 30 established and up-and-coming artists, photographers and sculptors from around the continent, exploring their ethnic backgrounds in American culture.
She adds, "I was also blown away by the wide range of art in our community: we've got innovative paintings, traditional photography, etchings, comic art and ceramics. This won't be your room full of Memoirs of a Geisha fan art."
The show also features a piece by the late Michael Cho, the art student from UCLA who was tragically shot to death by La Habra police on New Year's Eve. As you may know, this case has sparked quite a bit of outrage in the community over the circumstances surrounding Mike's death. (For more information, go here.)
The show opens this Friday, July 11 with an opening night reception at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery, and runs four weeks through August 8, Tuesday through Saturday during daytime hours.