Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
[nggallery id=32] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Group Art Show Opening Printed Matter 9 December 4, 2010 – January 12, 2011 Reception: Saturday, December 4, 6:30 – 10:00 p.m. GRSF 618 Shrader Street San Francisco, CA 94117 gr-sf.com 415-876-4773 Giant Robot is proud to present Printed Matter 9 at GRSF. Because limited-edition prints are one of the best ways for budget-minded and new collectors to acquire artwork and support independent artists, Giant Robot is committed to providing this popular series of art shows on a recurring basis. The latest installment of Printed Matter will feature more than 35 artists with a wide variety of aesthetic styles and printmaking techniques. Prints will be cash-and-carry, so this is also a timely opportunity to purchase limited-edition, one-size-fits-all gifts for the holidays. Participating artists are scheduled to include the following: Apak!, Nick Arciaga, Sasha Barr, Chris Bettig, Bigfoot, Jon Burgerman, Louise Chen, Shawn Cheng, Chris Cilla, Fortress Letterpress, Matt Furie, Nick Gazin, Tim Gough, Katherine Guillen, David Horvath, Kerry Horvath, Martin Hsu, Yellena James, Orlando Lacro, Landland, Le Merde, Jesse LeDoux, Little Friends of Printmaking, Saelee Oh, Ming Ong, Martin Ontiveros, Mike Perry, Souther Salazar, Bwana Spoons, Dan Stiles, Daria Tessler, Kevin Tong, Weathermaker Press, Steven Weissman, Madeleine Zygarewicz 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 and San Francisco, as well as an online equivalent. An opening reception for many of the artists will take place on 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, December 4.
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There’s a lot of interesting stuff floating around the GR office, and this particular design has a story that should be told. The design has a retro feel because it’s based on the Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! videogame from 2005. Released for the DS exclusively in Japan, the game follows a male cheerleader squad team dedicated to helping people in times of crisis. Taking a high-school exam, making pottery, wooing a girl, saving the world from an asteroid–wouldn’t any task be a little easier if men with armbands were cheering you on in a synchronized fashion? The task of this article of clothing happens to be assisting Giant Robot. The woes of print publishing are well-documented and our particular challenges have been fully disclosed, so it was extra cool of our friends at Meat Bun, the masters of turning obscure videogames into hip T-shirt designs, to raise money for GR with this shirt. That’s actually Eric in the middle of the manga panel (I recognize the T-shirt he’s wearing, if not the expression) clutching back issues of GR. Can you identify them all? Find more information and images (or even buy your own) at the GR shop site. Support GR and keep the spirit of weird videogames alive!
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[nggallery id=30] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art Show Magnetic Anomalies Giant Robot SF 618 Shrader Street San Francisco, CA 94117 gr-sf.com 415-876-4773 Giant Robot is proud to host Magnetic Anomalies, a group art show featuring new work by Leslie Winchester, Nick Arciaga, Jesse Balmer, and Jesse Fillingham. Leslie Winchester applies her hyper realistic illustration skills to make classic portraiture with touches of H.R. Giger as well as still life images of alien forms with vaguely organic shapes. The Bay Area artist’s work, which is most often in black and white, expertly and skillfully mixes concrete forms with surreal shapes to create odd discomfort, unusual tension, and pure visual stimulation. Nick Arciaga acts as curator and creator of his own natural history museum. His work documents the intersection of science and magic in otherworldly landscapes, records impossible scenarios in alternate histories, diagrams alien lifecycles, and describes occult rituals using graphite and paint. His art draws inspiration from vintage scientific diagrams, early photography, cryptozoology, and science fiction, then reconstitutes it into an alternate dimension whose inhabitants remain insolent in the face of entropy. Jesse Balmer channels the acid-soaked detail of underground comix and psychedelic expansiveness of black-light posters to imbue his universe of furrowed-browed, remotely human, and naked bipeds with a vintage sci-fi feel that predates Star Wars. His work ranges from (but is not limited to) crisp black-and-white illustrations to florescent watercolors to art-damaged photography. In his works, Jesse Fillingham pits man against beast, legend against reality, and brush strokes against paper to create epic-yet-earthly images that both recall and deconstruct classic imagery. His mostly earthy palette gives an equally historic and urgent feel to depictions of creatures and warriors that might be seen on an ancient urn as well as musicians and actors on the covers of modern newsstands. 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 and San Francisco, as well as an online equivalent. An opening reception for many of the artists will take place on 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, November 13. For more information about the artists, GRSF, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact: Eric Nakamura Giant Robot Owner/Publisher eric@giantrobot.com (310) 479-7311 ###
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[nggallery id=25] Theo Ellsworth at GR2 November 6 – December 8, 2010Reception: Saturday, November 6, 6:30 – 10:00 p.m. GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to present Visitors, an art show featuring new works by Theo Ellsworth. Theo Ellsworth draws obsessively detailed drawings and self-publishes comics, mini comics, and zines about imaginary people and places. The cosmic imagery, subtle geometry, and implied animism in his works recall the epic, heroic, and odd imagery of Jean “Moebius” Girard, Mayan ruins, and the Nazca lines, filtered through the jam-packed and often psychedelic lens of underground comix from the ’70s. (Ellsworth’s first “real” book, Capacity, was weird, wordy, and wonderful, and published by Secret Acres in 2008.) Taking part in art shows affords the Portland, OR-based artist opportunities to experiment with color, explore larger frames, and let his imagination fly–or spelunk or dive, depending on his mood. For Visitors, Ellsworth is creating a few dozen pieces on wood, paper, and whatever supplies are available featuring portraits of “beings from far away, living in locations too small to see.” He explains, “Working on these pieces is, for me, an attempt to understand the way my imagination coexists with my day-to-day world and how my thoughts shape my perception of reality.” 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 and San Francisco, as well as an online equivalent. An opening reception for Ellsworth will take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, November 6. For more information about Ellsworth, GR2, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact: Eric NakamuraGiant Robot Owner/Publishereric@giantrobot.com(310) 479-7311 ###
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[nggallery id=76] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art show opening Deth P. Sun and Ferris Plock at GR2 October 2 – November 3, 2010 Reception: Saturday, October 2, 6:30 – 10:00 p.m. GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to host Fare Thee Well, a joint show featuring new work by Oakland- and San Francisco-based artists Deth P. Sun and Ferris Plock. Deth P. Sun’s acrylic paintings on panels bring epic landscapes and cosmic occurrences into a private and personal world. Influenced by David Attenborough, as well as the Moomin series and films of Terry Gilliam, Deth seeks to create a fantasy world as a reflection of his own experiences and worldview. It is a place where cold mountains loom under the stars, cloaked figures arrive with the night, and lone dreamers struggle–a place where hope and belief still shine in dark times. For Fare Thee Well, Sun is making about 100 or so paintings that will be joined by an overarching theme and a new color scheme. Ferris Plock’s work is primarily character-based imagery that incorporates his passion for storytelling. Based on sketches, his artwork more often than not incorporates animals or monsters in everyday human conditions: going to work, dodging splashes from cars, walking their pets, or some other scenario involving the amazing creatures. Using acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, dip pens with India ink, gold or silver leaf, collage and stains on wood panels, canvas, and found objects, Ferris attempts to build suitable environments in which his subjects can comfortably reside. Plock is creating a new cartoon (Seafarers 3) for the opening and basing 21-28 hand-pulled silk screens on it for the show. 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 and San Francisco, as well as an online equivalent. An opening reception for Sun and Plock will take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, October 2. For more information about the artists, GR2, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact: Eric Nakamura Giant Robot Owner/Publisher eric@giantrobot.com (310) 479-7311
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