Believe it or not, Sanrio, that ubiquitous Japanese brand of all things cute and kitty, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Yup, it's been around a lot longer than you thought. To commemorate the occasion, Sanrio is throwing a nationwide celebration, Small Gift, including a mobile traveling tour and two "superfun" events in Los Angeles and Miami.
The Los Angeles event includes a huge art exhibition with fifty international artists providing their own takes on Sanrio. Artist and friend to the blog Martin Hsu informs me that he's contributing a huge painting to the show, depicting a magical place inspired by Puroland, Spirited Away and his own Hakone/onsen trip in Japan. And it includes all the Sanrio characters!
That's a preview of Martin's piece above -- it's actually only a third of the painting, which is 60" x 36"! If you're in Southern California, you can see it, along with all the other works, at Small Gift LA, happening November 12-21 at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Here are a couple more photos of Martin's painting:
For more from Martin Hsu and his art, go to his official website here.
