Artsy Fartsy

Heh... since i'm on the artsy-fartsy, cultural side of the town, thot i might as well write smthg about art... : )
Artist #1: Ai Yamaguchi
First got to know about this japanese artist when Shu Uemura launched its limited edition of cleansing oil, and they were doing a series of roadshows in the major asian cities, "Shu by Ai".
At 1st glance, i thot the art pieces were pleasing to the eye, and the cute cartoon gals were lazing around (sometimes in their kimonos) enjoying their innocent , idyllic childhood years.

... until i managed to find out more about the artist and her art... i realized that Yamaguchi's various series of exhibitions are actually ongoing, episodic chronicling of the lives of nine young girls living and working as courtesans at Togue no Chaya (The Brothel on the Mountain Pass), a fictional, unlicensed brothel of the artist's imaginative conjuring. There is this unique combination of the modern sensibility and tradition in her drawings, and the themes in her artwork are not that innocent all the time...

Check out the urls to learn more about the artist and her works. Note that the japanese and english write ups have different collections in her biography.



Artist #2: 권 기 수 (權奇秀, KWON Ki-Soo)
This korean artist's cute cartoon (Dongguri) and choice of bright colors, draws your attention. Dongguri seems mischievous with its bristled hair and a smiling face. :)

According to the professional art critics: "Symbolic images in Kwon's work, different from its gently smiling face, latently reveal violence in the correlation of social position and force. Kwon Ki-soo's work often raises the matter of representation: the matter of self- confirmation, formation of meanings and inner-orientation."

I think i read somewhere that the flowers in his pictures demonstrate a will of harmony, collaboration and reconciliation. The lines and boxes are supposed to represent the boundaries/ structures in our lives/ society that he purposely drew in weird angles such that we are not totally bounded/ constrained by these lines...

Click pix for the animation on the cheeky interpretation of what it means to be "Artsy Fartsy" :Pp