From left to right (and top to bottom!): David Stoupakis, Gallery owner Paul Booth, Dark Pop 2.0 artist Esao Andrews and Gallery Director Andrew Michael Ford)

This past Saturday, Paul Booth’s Last Rites Gallery opened it’s newest exhibition entitled Dark Pop 2.0 to a crowd of almost 500 people.  The anticipation was high after the inaugural Dark Pop exhibition last year, which boasted the talents of artists such as Ron English, Gary Taxali, Isabel Samaras, Esao Andrews and street art sensations Gaia and Imminent Disaster, along with many others.  This year’s show saw the return of artists such as Esao Andrews, Yoko d’Holbachie, Gaia, David MacDowell, Sarah Joncas, Leslie Ditto and Nathan Lee Pickett.  Some of the artists joining the show for the first time included Tara McPherson, AIKO (aka Aiko Nakagawa), Stella Im Hultberg, Dan-ah Kim, Amy Crehore, Eric Fortune, Dennis McNett and Tin.  A few of the photos from the opening event can be seen below.  A full flickr set can be found HERE.  Also, you can view all the artwork from the show HERE.

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Three Apples, celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Sanrio’s Hello Kitty icon and brand  officially opens this Friday, October 23rd @ Royal/T in Culver City, CA.  While the exhibition features everything you could every Hello Kitty item you could ever want to see or buy, it’s also home to a large group art show featuring 60+ artists curated by Jamie Rivadeneira.  We’ve shown you a few previews of paintings from the show and now we’re back with a first look at the official show catalog.  Available for purchase at the venue, the nicely produced catalog features full color images of nearly each art piece along will nice 2 page spreads with pull quotes from selected artists.  Enjoy this first look.

Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.559.6300

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This weekend opened the “Kokeshi” show curated by designer Christina Conway at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, which has been showing some great emerging work as of late.

Kokeshi featured nearly 100 custom traditional Japanese Kokeshi dolls from some of the most talented artists in the emerging contemporary scene including Amy Sol, Travis Louie, Yoskay Yamamoto, Tara McPherson, Kozyndan and more.

What was even better was that the museum had an entire exhibit of traditional Kokeshi and a timeline of Kokeshi dolls through history to give you a real sense of the importance of the doll in Japanese culture. An excellent display and a worthwhile excuse to visit JANM.

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R to L: Amy Sol, Kelly Vivanco, Stella Im Hultberg

Presented by LATDA, Kokeshi from Folk Art to Art Toy opening on July 11th, 2009 @ the Japanese American National Museum, offers a broad survey of a multitude of  Kokeshi – Japanese wood dolls that were traditionally  collected as souvenirs by hot springs visitors.  The large show will feature three sections – the first features over 300 examples of traditional kokeshi from the collection of Itske and Anthony Stern, the second features contemporary original takes on the koekshi from eleven artists working in diverse media, and  the third section entitled Custom Kokeshi 2009 curated by Christina Conway features over 100 international artists interpretations of an identical blank kokeshi  wood form.

Dailydujour had the pleasure of visiting the museum a few weeks ago to get an early look at the varied pieces in the show with the assistance of Maria Kwong (LATDA) and Christina Conway.  Though we were primarily focused on the work done for Custom Kokeshi 2009, the follow-up to Christina’s successful 07 Kokeshi show, what we saw of the other show sections was quite impressive.

Conway selected a varied and talented group of artists (full list on the flier after the jump) based on their ability to bring an interesting interpretation of the blank kokeshi form.  While it goes without saying that Conway invited some of the best and brightest artists in the low-brow and pop surrealist genres, she also invited perhaps lesser-know artists who she had become familiar with over the years.  The result is a very strong collection of work which in our opinion surpasses that of the first show – by no means a trivial task.

Enjoy this preview which features pieces from Amy Sol, Caia Koopman, Kelly Vivanco, Meredith Dittmar,  Mike Rivamonte, N.C. Winters,  Stella Im Hultberg, and Tara McPherson.  Look for more shortly. Finally, be sure to mark July 11th on your carder to catch the opening of this excellent show.

Japanese American National Museum
369 East First Street
Los Angeles California 90012
213.625.0414

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Last night I caught up with Tara McPherson who is visiting Toronto for TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival).  Magic Pony hosted a book signing and show featuring a collection of Tara’s prints in their new Narwhal Projects gallery.  Spirits were high and there was a solid turn out with people lining up hours before the opening.  Tara’s fans got a chance to talk with her about her art while checking out an awesome collection of her giclee and screen prints.  Good times!

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I attended a press preview of the rad “Art of Rebellion” show at the Robert Berman Gallery in Bergamot Station last night. Presented by Harley-Davidson, the show gathers 11 artists to present their take on the theme of rebellion. Each artist painted a motorcycle gas tank, in addition to presenting a solo 2-D piece. The art is for sale, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Art Matters.

The show officially opens Feb. 7, with a reception from 7 PM-10 PM. It has been extended until Feb. 21, so be sure to check it out.

Robert Berman Gallery

Bergamot Station Arts Center– 2525 Michigan Ave D5

Santa Monica, CA 90404

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