Two Exhibitions ＠Golden Week holidays

My two exhibitions are coming＠Golden Week holidays！

■SICF (SPIRAL INDEPENDENT CREATORS FESTIVAL)
3rd May(Thu) - 4th May(Fri), 12:00 - 19:00
Venue : Spiral Hall (Aoyama)
http://www.sicf.jp/#home

■「Tornado！」
27th Apr(fri) - 8th May(tue) , 12:00 - 19:00
Venue : Art Trace Gallery (Ryogoku)
http://shaped.web.fc2.com/

by takahisahashimo | May 16, 2012 04:03 PM | art | Comments(0)

Things i can do - to raise donation at Artexpo

The sad news is what we hear everyday and more and more devastating situations have become clear as time passes by. Currently Japan is filled with sadness but I see people are united together for the bright future. I am exhibiting my art at Artexpo in New York end of March and I am talking to Artexpo administration office whether I could raise donation for Japan quake at the venue. I hope to hear good news from them. It is a very tiny step but I wanted to do something that I can do. Never give up Japan!

by takahisahashimo | March 14, 2011 08:53 PM | art | Comments(22)

Mr. Angelo - A Fatty Restaurant Owner

It's amazing why a restaurant with a fatty cook makes me think that it must serve great food. Whenever I encounter such cook, I always wonder if he became a cook because he simply loves eating, or if he became fat because he has fanatically pursued the most delicious food in the world.
The main character of this picture book is Mr. Angelo, a fatty man with thick long beard. He loves cooking and eating more than anything else that he finally opens a restaurant. But the only menu he served for the customers who came on the opening day was Angle Cake. He was a cook who made only one menu he wanted to cook that day. Obviously, his customers are upset about this service and Mr. Angelo should do something to breakthrough the situation.
This picture book done by an American illustrator, Abner Graboff, is an impressive and unique work full of adorable characters and colourful, structural design.
I imagined myself becoming fatty and eating a doughnut at a restaurant kitchen. Right, let me see what I shall cook tonight...

by takahisahashimo | July 12, 2010 01:02 PM | art | Comments(6)

Picture book - Cats and Bats and Things with Wings

These days, I'm obsessed with picture books without any particular reason.
This is a picture book of animals illustrated by Milton Glaser, a member who founded a design team called Pushun Studio, which has become very popular in graphic design universe since 1970s. The studio has led wide range of innovative artwork from advertising, animation, record jackets and book covers.
In Cats and Bats and Things with Wings, animals such as crocodile, frog, crab and octopus appear in different illustration styles. Some pages are vivid and colourful, while others are black-and-white line drawing based or trick pages filled with illusions. The book is an outstanding quality piece of work with amazing editorial flavour and the unique poem. It is an art that goes beyond the boundaries of picture book or design which inspires you with its free-spirited creativity. Encounter with such work fills me with joy and excitement as well as some sort of unexplainable jealous. Maybe I am obsessed with picture books with the hope of encountering this kind of mixed feeling of surprise after all.

by takahisahashimo | May 16, 2010 12:53 AM | art | Comments(68)

Madhubani Painting in Delhi

I just came back from Delhi to see the real Madhubani painting in India. Madhubani painting or Mithila painting is a style of Indian wall painting practiced in the Mithila region, northeast part of India close to Nepal. This particular painting style has been passed down for over 3000 years from mother to daughter.
I arrived at the local airport at around 2am in the morning. Though everyone had warned me that Delhi was not a safe place to travel, I just could not control my excitement about seeing the real Madhubani painting with my own eyes. I had some sleep before visiting the Crafts Museum in the centre of Delhi just before noon, where a number of architectural and historical details of high profile artifacts and folk arts from all across India.
They also had wall paining done by a female artist Ganga Devi whose work opened the door for me to the Madhubani art.
Madhubani painting section was tiny compared to the total size of the museum, however, I met two young artists from Bihar State live paining and selling their work. I exchanged contact detail with one of them named Wmesh Kuwa. He was a pleasant, innocent guy whose father is also an artist. I also had opportunities to see a large number of Madhubani painting pieces sold at shops as souvenir. It was unfortunate that overall level of the art was low and quality was rough. This seems to be because people found out that this style of painting would make money, all of sudden a huge number of people started drawing it which caused unbelievable variation in the quality of the art piece. This actually tells me how talented an artist Ganga Devi was.
Journey to India of following the roots of my own illustration style was fun and fulfilling. I am determined to visit Madhubani villages in Bihar next time.

Crafts Museum:

by takahisahashimo | February 25, 2010 11:36 PM | art | Comments(16)