nobody walks in la....

thanks to tina and daily dujour:)
i'm participating in a group show in barcelona.
the show is called "nobody walks in la"and it opens this friday on the 23rd.
here's my contribution:


"in between the seasons," acrylic on masonite, 24 x 24, 2009


detail

click here for the rest of the preview

hi-fructose vol.10

thanks to attaboy and annie form hi-fructose for featuring my toy, koibito in the newest issue of their magazine.



also in this issue my friend, yosuke ueno has an in-depth interview.
more reason to pick them up:)

陽介さんおめでとう！！！

ありがとう：）

i received this gift from my fan in osaka、japan.
i feel very lucky to have such a wonderful supporter:)


マユさん，ありがとう：）
あんまり嬉しいからブログに載せちゃいました。

１００分の１でも分かって欲しい。。。。

:)

first of all i want to say thanks to all the fans who are sitting in front of a computer all day to purchase the online exclusive release.

i understand 7 items aren't that many and it is a lot of work for you to check the MK site all day.

and i really hope some of the over sea fans are able to purchase some of the goodies.

in the mean time please enjoy some of these awesome photos which were send by koibito lovers:)

by scott

by brian mccarty

by tim

by tim

sorry for the short notice....

so the online sales will begin tomorrow, sorry for the short notice.

munky king will release 1 item at time. 

and sale will go on for few days... 

we are trying our best to avoid the flippers and this was our solution...

good luck:)

online exclusives part 2

under the full moon, edtion of 3, 6 x 12, unframed 

online exclusives

after the successful koibito release party at munky king last month, i received many e-mails from over the sea/ out of the state fans. many of them expressed their excitement about koibito. and others expressed their sadness for missing the party and all the goodies which were available at the event....

personally i understand their situation very well. there have been many cases that i wished i could of been back at home in japan. i wasn't be able to attend to some of these events in the past due to financial reasons and other circumstances, including two of my brothers weddings and many of the holidays........   

so i made a decision to create online exclusive koibitos for those who couldn't make it to the official release party.  

these four colours represent the four elements of the nature: earth, fire, wind, and water.

here are some of the images:

also there  will be a very small run of "under the stars" gocco prints.

we are still working on the timing and the detail about this exclusive online release....

i will let you know as we figure it out.

待ちぼうけ。。。

it's so quiet...

happy happy joy joy:)

:)

me + mr nara

ドラエモンへ。。。。

この日，この瞬間へ僕を連れて行って下さい。

aigato:)

i want to thank all the people who came by last night to the koibito release party.

also thanks to everyone at munky king for all the support and care.

and those who couldn't make it to the event this time i hope you will be there for the next release.

over all it was a great success.

please check the links for the photos of the event:

vinylpulse.com
dalydujour.com
arrestedmotion.com

one more day...

the secret revealed......

so last weekend at the vtn (vinyl toy network), the secret color way of my toy koibito was revealed at munky king's booth.....


here is the image:






munky king exclusive color way, edition of 150

under the stars...

took me all day to finish framing these...
but i'm happy with the result.




"under the stars," edition of 25, gocco prints with hand painted background, 2008

also the secret color way/ munky king exclusive will be revealed at vinyl toynet work in pasadena:)

gocco:)

i'm working on a new series of gocco prints.
these will be available at koibito release party at munky king.

they are edition of 25.
they come with either gold ink or silver ink.
i hand painted and stencil the background so everyone is a little different from each other.

here are some process pictures:

count down begins:)

the time has been passing by me so rapidly lately.....
i can't believe we are at the last month of 2008....

but the good news is my toy koibito is finally coming out on 11th of this month!!!
i hope all of you are as excited as i am:)
and to make this occasion little bit more special i'm ruffling away an original painting.
i haven't confirmed all　the detail about with munky king, but you will have a chance to win this original koibito painting if you attend the event on the 11th.
also we are going to make a mini print out of the same image.

so here is the painting for the ruffle:


" kata-omoi: unrequited love", 24 x24, acrylic on paper, 2008

最近。。。

はまってます、Sigur Rós，

empty howl...

often i find myself having a hard time projecting my thoughts clearly into words...
speechless and redundant, my words are tumbling with each other as they try to make their way out of my mouth....
even when i try to scream i feel that there aren't any sounds that's coming out....
or it feels like it gets erased by the surroundings...

anyway here is a new work titled "empty howl"...
the work will be available through cerasoli:lebasse at aqua art miami.



"empty howl", 30 x 40, mixed media on paper, 2008

christie's....

my toy koibito is going to be auctioned at christie's.....

on sale

this past summer i was lucky enough to design a poster for linkin park's tour, projekt rev.
they hired 24 artist to design a unique silkscreen poster for each 24 cities.
and now they are on sale at their web site.
click here for the link.

here is my design

5 color silkscreen, edition of 100

vinyl pulse

got featured on vinylpulse.com:)

thanks jack!!!

artistasay.com

i got featured in artistaday .





thank you:)

thanks for your patients:)

i'm sorry for the lack of update.
there are a lot going on and i'm having a difficulty handling them all...

anyway, munk king and i confirmed on the release date for koibito.

we are still working on details about the event.
i will post more about it as i find out.

an exciting weekend!!!

a very exciting weekend for my loft mates and myself.

nate will be having his first solo show "put on a happy face" at cerasoli lebasse gallery in culver city.


Shallow, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 inches inches

tessar lo will be having a three person show at roq la rue.


Tessar Lo/Roq La Rue Preview from Modus Films on Vimeo.

also my friend and old loft mate scott bellcastro is having a two person show at cerasoli: lebasse gallery.


I Have Ever Felt, 2008, acrylic on panel, 30 x 40 inches


and for myself, i'm showing my new sculptures at 1988 gallery in san francisco.

back in the bay:)

i am showcasing my new sculptures in the group show "imaginary friends" at gallery 1988 in san francisco.
the show opens november 7th and runs through till 29th.

here are some of the work for the show:


the brightest hour, mixed media, 2008


silent echo, mixed media, 2008


let it fall, mixed media, 2008


everyone but me..., mixed media, 2008

gallery 1988sf
1173 sutter st.
san francisco, ca. 94109

something a little different....

i have been working on a series of sculptures for an upcoming group show "imaginary friends" @ 1988sf gallery.
this was a fun little project and really enjoyed using both of my hands to create and sculpt these new pieces.

let it fall, mixed media, 2008


the brightest hour, mixed media, 2008

love from hawaii:)

arigato to my friend johnny for sending me this amazing shot of koibito:)
such a strange but positive feeling to know my toy are traveling to places that i never been to....



thanks again johnny, and thanks for all the fans who has been waiting patiently for the release of my toy.

hunt and gather interview

thanks my friend tina from hunt and gather blog for the chance to be interviewed:)

here is the link to her blog if you re interested.

http://www.huntandgatherart.com/

sgtv: 10 under 30

a little slide show for the up-coming group exhibition 10 under 30.
click here for the link:)

10 under 30

thanks to people at sullvian goss in sunny santa barbara.
i was lucky enough to be included in their up-coming show "10 under 30."

here is my contribution:



"akashi" acrylic on wood, 2008.

opening reception:
thrursday, october 2nd
from 5 - 8pm
7 east anapamu street
santa barbara, ca.

in the end....

here is the commission piece i just finished for mr shinoda of linkin park.


untitled, acrylic on wood, 2008

scion installation 5

many thanks to people at scion.
i got invited to their installation tour for the second time.
this year scion installation 5 will be traveling through 9 different cites in the states.
here is my piece.


quiet flame, 24 x 36, acrylic on wood 2008

and here is the tour spots and dates:

10/04/08-10/25/08 Detroit @ C Pop
12/05/08 Miami @ The Raleigh Hotel Penthouse
2/06/09-2/28/09 Phoenix @ Perihelion Arts
March, 2009 (exact dates TBD) Washington DC @ Irvine Contemporary
4/03/09-4/25/09 Minneapolis, MN @ Rogue Buddha Gallery
5/07/09-5/21/09 New York, NY @ The Showroom NYC
June/July San Jose, CA @ Anno Domini
June/July Portland, OR @ TBD
August, 2009 Los Angeles @ Scion Installation L.A.

it starts with....

here are some of the progress shots of my current commission that i'm working on.