GR2 May 5 – May 30th, 2012 6:30-10pm Eishi Takaoka – I Am Fine

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