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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art Exhibition at GR2

Game Over

Video Game Culture Art Exhibition

June 2 -  June 27, 2012
Opening reception Saturday June 2th 2012, 6:30-10pm

GR2 – 2062 Sawtelle Blvd LA, CA 90025 www.gr2.net 310 445 9276

Giant Robot 2 (GR2) presents: Game Over

Video Game Culture Art Exhibition

Artists include:

Aaron Brown, Albert Reyes, Alex Chiu, Ana Serrano, Andrice Arp, Aska Iida, Bradford Lynn, Brian Luong, Bryan Wong, Bubi Au Yeung, Cam Floyd, Carlos Donjuan, Christopher Chan, Cory Schmitz, David Horvath, Devin McGrath, Elizabeth Ito, Elliot Brown, Eric Broers, Erin Althea, Gabe Gonzales, Gary Musgrave, Grant Reynolds, Heidi Woan, James Chong, James Kochalka, Jarrett Quon, Jay Horinouchi, Jeni Yang, Jeremiah La Torre, Jeremy Tinder, Jeremyville, Jeromy Velasco, Jesse Balmer, Jesse Fillingham, Jesse LeDoux, Jesse Moynihan, Jesse Reklaw, Jesse Tise, Jiyoung Moon, John Lau, Kerry Horvath, Kevin Luong, Kio Griffith, Kwanchai Moriya, Lawrence Yang, Linda Kim, Louise Chen, Luke Chueh, Luke Rook, Maiko Kanno, Mare Odomo, Mari Inukai, Mark Ingram, Martin Hsu, Matt Furie, Meatbun, Miso, Nick Arciaga, Patrick Kyle, Peter Kato, Philip Koscak, Renee French, Sana Park, Sara Saedi, Sarah Lee, Sean Chao, Shawn Cheng, Shiho Nakaza, Shihori Nakayama, Sidney Pink, Silvio Porretta, Stasia Burrington, Stephanie Kubo, Theo Ellsworth, Tru Nguyen, Yejin Oh, Yoskay Yamamoto, Yumi Sakugawa and more.

Also there will be playable indie games including the works of programmers Beau Blythe and Shelby Cinca who are creating a game with Sean Chao and Jeni Yang. It’ll be a welcome back to ArtxGames series.

Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles as well as an online equivalent.

Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot Owner/Publisher
eric@giantrobot.com
(310) 479-7311

What’s a gallery supposed to do when an artist can’t make it? We’ve had that issue in the past but this time, we did something creative with it. Eishi Takaoka isn’t the most talkative but across the world at his house in Kagoshima, Japan, he joined his solo effort at Giant Robot 2 – I Am Fine. He spoke to visitors as if he was there using Skype video with HD cams. He answered questions with some translation help from Google Translator, our friends Kio and Shihori. (The art is available here.)

Eishi Takaoka provided us with some photos of his pieces right from his work space.

Eishi Takaoka won’t make it to LA for his solo exhibition, but we set up a station towards the back where you can talk to Eishi. We tested it today. He’ll be live starting at around 6pm PST. It’s a wonderful exhibition of intricately carved wood works.

Giant Robot 2 Artist Talk

They Are Us – Ako Castuera will be at Giant Robot 2 to explain and even demo her work. You might get a chance to try some drawings and painting yourself!

GR2 4/29/12 3-5pm Artist Talk and Demo – Ako Castuera

Ako Castuera’s THEY ARE US exhibition continues. There’s plenty of great works still available. All the unsolds are sorted in this link. Since there’s so many pieces and it’s hard to tell, we sorted them for you. Search term: Ako Unsold

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art Exhibition at GR2

I Am Fine – Eishi Takaoka

May 5 – May 30, 2012
Opening reception Saturday May 5th 2012, 6:30-10pm

GR2 – 2062 Sawtelle Blvd LA, CA 90025 www.gr2.net 310 445 9276

Giant Robot 2 (GR2) presents: I Am Fine

Solo exhibition by Eishi Takaoka

Eishi Takaoka’s work is coming back. Although the sculptures of Eishi Takaoka all portray the same serene expression, their outwardly calm façade belies a world of bottled-up emotions. With nowhere to go, these intense feelings manifest themselves in outlandish formations that sprout out of the top of each figure’s head. The uniquely sculpted heads of Takaoka are rooted in a personal fantasy world that is fueled by the emotional ups and downs of daily life in lower-middle class Japan. He instills his frustration with life in Kagoshima and feelings of isolation into each of the pieces, which are comprised of carved wood painted with raw mineral pigments placed atop empty glass medicine bottles. Takaoka’s pieces have been seen in group shows in Tokyo and New York, one-person exhibitions at Giant Robot New York and GR2 in Los Angeles, and on the cover of novelist Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore.

For this exhibition, Takaoka will create 34 sculptures at Giant Robot 2 in Los Angeles. He is currently attending school in his hometown of Kagoshima, Japan and will not be in Los Angeles for the opening.

Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles as well as an online equivalent.

Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot Owner/Publisher
eric@giantrobot.com
(310) 479-7311

Available here

Lengthy Anna Anthropy Article. We worked with her and Saelee Oh to make Octopounce for a previous Game Over Exhibition. She’s made 70 games! Congrats! (Capital NY – Anna Anthropy)

Los Angeles I’m Yours Interview is a bit generous with the title: The Ability To Do Everything: An Interview With Eric Nakamura. Nice photos and nice job. Thanks much fellas. It’s an honor.

Eric Nakamura is one of those people who will talk to anyone. He’s extremely approachable, extremely nice, and extremely talented. He can do just about anything too, from running a successful store to a….. (LAI’mYours – Eric Nakamura)

Take 25% Off online. Use the grweb25 code… That’ll help with the shipping expenses.

Take 20% Off instore!

The idea of a cash mob sounds just as great as a flash mob. Imagine, people pooling together to shop at a single place that might not get their business at all in a year. It might only last an hour, but that hour might help out a shop for a week. Yes, maybe you’re not getting that exact brand or it might even cost a bit more, but the extra money spent is the same as a single beer that you drink at an expensive bar and you probably pound down 3 or 4. That designer truck taco that you eat standing up in the cold, the expensive single slice of pizza (and you eat 2), all this is money that one can say you’re wasting. Shop local. Instead of Walgreens, KMart, Target, or Burger King, why not for an hour, pool together with friends and go somewhere else just for an hour. (Palo Alto Online – Cash Mob)

Ako Castuera Art Preview Images

If you want to get to the Ustream page, it’s here. 7-10pm pst.

Live broadcasting by Ustream

French at GR2. He recorded a video for us to talk about his favorite metal albums. Meanwhile check out his art at GR2