Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
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.)
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Eishi Takaoka provided us with some photos of his pieces right from his work space.
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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.
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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
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