July 9, 2008
CRAZIANS! Art Show Is Good for You
"CRAZIANS!" group art show curator Moye Ishimoto writes:
So when Fenton and Randy (actually, more like James St James, Thairin Smothers, and Steven Corfe) first approached me to curate a CRAZIANS!-themed show in the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery, one of the first artists I thought of was David Chung. Or Dave Chung. Or Dave “the” Chung, as I think he calls himself on his website.
So how cool and crazy is that?? I’m going to start calling myself Moye “the” Ishimoto. Like, that’s right, bitches. There’s only ONE Ishimoto – which would be a complete lie because, in Japan, the Ishimoto name is as common as Smith. And since Moye is a pretty popular name too, I bet there are thousands of other me’s running around Tokyo right now, all dressed up in cute gothic Lolita dresses and bowing politely.
Back to The Chung. Dave grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan, then moved to the States and now currently works in Los Angeles. I think he does animation, or something that makes his parents proud. The important thing is that he makes some really fucking awesome art. I rarely use the F-word unless it pertains to Crazians (in general) or when I accidentally stub my toe in the kitchen. But really, check out Dave Chung’s art all over here. Or read his blog.
What can I say about his original work? I love how all of his pieces are edged in softness but contain some pretty crazy imagery, like a koala bear looking for her joey inside the mouth of a watermelon flavored monster. (See above) Say what? Where does this all come from? I have no idea, but show me more, please. As you may have noticed, I used his original piece, Zhong Kui: The Evil Effer Upper, for the main "CRAZIANS!" flyer because hello, that’s what Crazians are all about! WE EFF THINGS UP! In an Asian way.
And you know what else is awesome? Dave understands his cultural mythology: Zhong Kui, his portrait’s subject, is known to be a guardian spirit and basically sums up the meaning of Asian bad-assery.
On an even awesomer side note, my mother dropped by the other day to “look at the art” (but I think she was really checking on my progress to make sure everything was OK, just like how she used to secretly pop up in my bedroom while I was supposed to be doing homework but was really re-reading Anne of Green Gables for the 14th time) and she immediately pointed out Chung’s piece. Like, hey, what’s Zhong Kui doing here? (Except in Japanese, of course.)
Cool, right?
So get your cultural learning on this Friday night at the CRAZIANS! art show opening.
– Moye Ishimoto
Related entries:
- Paul Richmond: Dollypop Artist: Paul Richmond, one of the contributing artists...
- Parton Parcel: Here is a gorgeous, iconic pic of...
- Deconstructing Donald: South Korean artist Hyungkoo Lee's skeleton of...
- Primer Scream: This beautiful, surreal, increasingly nightmarish, exhaustively annotated...
- Letter to Warhol: Mmm Mmm Good: (via Warholstars; t/y Robert)...
