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Why won't you be art?! You never know what you are going to find in Japan. One night I was exploring my favorite part of Tokyo, Shibuya, when the distinctive flesh tones of the Simpsons caught my eye. It was on a poster advertising "KAWS TOKYO FIRST"--an art exhibition at the Parco Gallery (March 16, 2001-April 16, 2001). This gallery is on the top floor of a huge department store. Inside was a bizarre collection of Simpsons characters, Mickey Mouses, and Michelin Men with crosses for eyes and bones through their heads. Photography was prohibited, but, of course, there was a book and other items for sale. |
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One wall was covered with oversize packages (16" x 16") modeled after the Simpsons Playmates figures, except that each one contained a beautiful oil painting of an x-eyed Simpsons character and instead of "The Simpsons," it said "The Kimpsons." This was the most arresting part of the exhibit, but unfortunately, it is not reproduced in the book. You can buy one of the packaged oil paintings for only 125,000 yen (approx. US$1000). An aside: Browsing the net looking for related material for this page, I was struck by the almost universal attempt to create non-sequitur imagery and "explore the boundaries" of this or that. But all things considered, there's probably nothing more thought-provoking than the found images in the Ebay Conceptual Art Gallery. Honorable mention should also go to the elegant covers of Relax, a Japanese-language magazine. |
 The KawsOne museum catalog and sticker set. I think maybe you are supposed to stick the stickers somewhere in public. A previous Kaws' exhibition featured his bone-head faces on billboards. |
 "Why does art hate me? I never did anything to art." |
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