Art show

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This Lightning Won’t Forge Itself (Fūjin Raijin Diptych, l)

(sold)

February 3, 2010 in Art, Art show, Illustration, Illustration Friday, Japan | 4 comments

This Lightning Won’t Forge Itself cut paper art by Patrick Gannonsize: 7 1/4 x 10 3/8”
medium: cut paper on wood

Raijin and Fūjin have always struck me as the odd couple of the Japanese Shinto pantheon. Two ex-demons pressed into service by the powers-that-be, they are forced to work together despite their opposing personalities. If they are The Odd Couple, then Raijin is a moodier version of Felix. Focused, determined, ominous. He doesn’t have time for Fūjin’s playful, needy antics. Or does he? Is that the slightest sliver grin at the corner of his mouth as he dutifully ignores the looping breeze?

This Summoning Wind / This Lightning Won’t Forge Itself diptych cut paper art by Patrick Gannonclick here or the image to see Titans Clash

Raijin and Fūjin are fascinating and awesome (in the traditional sense of the word) as typically depicted raging through a storm. When I sat down to sketch this piece, that was my first approach as well. After a while, I started wondering how they spent the quiet hours between typhoons. What kind of relationship evolves between the people who spend all of their time together; coworkers, best friends, husbands and wives, Gods of thunder and wind.This Summoning Wind / This Lightning Won’t Forge Itself diptych cut paper art by Patrick Gannonclick here or the image for the big frame-up

Cut to the Chase – Discovering and Making Cut Paper Art and Illustration

January 27, 2010 in Art, Art show, Children's, Illustration, Japan, News | 1 comment

Cut to the Chase Event promo with Patrick Gannon Hey everyone, I’m doing a workshop on Friday! It’s reservation only, so if you’d like to see me turn tomato-red while chatting about how cool Cut Paper Art is, and you’re going to be in the Tokyo area, grab a seat. Here’s the description:

For centuries, cut paper has had a place in storytelling and folk art traditions throughout the world. From intricate Chinese cutouts to Mexico’s Papel Picado to European silhouettes, papercutting has been a vibrant part of the craft life of many cultures. Cut paper became a popular technique with childrens’ book illustrators, valued for lively colors and versatility. Recently cut paper has received renewed attention from artists, merging modern creativity and thought with traditional techniques.


In this 90-minute workshop, cut paper artist/illustrator Patrick Gannon will conduct a brief tour of the history of Cut Paper art traditions throughout the world. Modern papercutting art from various artists and illustrators will be introduced. He’ll demonstrate some of his techniques for creating this fascinating and fun art form and lead participants in the creation of their own cut paper illustrations. Participants are encouraged to bring sketches, characters, or story ideas that can be used as a creative starting point for their illustrations.

And the details:

Time:  Friday, January 29, 2010, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Place:  Tokyo Women’s Plaza, Conference Room 2
           5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
           (by the Children’s Castle and United Nations University)
For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm
Fee:  SCBWI members 1,000 yen
         Non-members 1,500 yen
Reservations:  Contact info@scbwi.jp by January 28
Materials to Bring:  

  • sketch pad or paper
  • colored paper (optional)
  • pencil or mechanical pencil
  • eraser
  • scissors
  • glue or glue stick (optional)
  • cutting mat (if you have one) or A4 to A3 size sheet(s) of thick cardboard
  • NT design cutter / X-acto knife and blade (if you have one)

This event will be in English;
Japanese interpretation available on request.

Also of note, this is the first time I’ve ever posted a photo of myself on this blog. Try not to let it scare you off from the event.

Vixen (Inari)

December 21, 2009 in Art, Art show, Illustration, Illustration Friday, Japan | 10 comments

Vixen (Inari) cut paper art by Patrick Gannonsize: 17.2 x 29 cm ( about 6 3/4 x 11 1/2″ )
medium: cut and torn paper on wood
click here or the image for large-scale foxiness

Blinded by cleverness into seeing only cleverness, undone by our own cunning.

The fox makes a great symbol, from Aesop on up ’til now. No other two-legger or four-legger embodies that same complicated and conflicted mix of clever, cunning, hunger, pride, independence and nobility. They serve beautifully as both hero and villain, sage and fool, in just about every culture. Look at Inari, Japanese god…or goddess of…well, just about everything. Plus, they just look awesome.

Like Words of Carrion Comfort, Vixen is a little bit of an experiment with shape and texture. Where I used mostly color combinations to try to bring out a softness in Carrion, here I combined that with a little bit of torn paper and some translucency.

Vixen (Inari) is also part of The Way of Flow running from December 4, 2009 – January 2, 2010 at C.A.V.E. Gallery, Venice, CA.

Words of Carrion Comfort

(sold)

December 16, 2009 in Art, Art show, Illustration, Illustration Friday, Japan | 8 comments

Words of Carrion Comfort cut paper art by Patrick Gannonsize: 17.2 x 29 cm ( about 6 3/4 x 11 1/2″ )
medium: cut paper on wood
click here or the image to crow louder

If there ever was an argument for spontaneous generation, it is the carrion-craving crow. The park near my home is infested with the big-beaked birds and they are eternally carrying out raids on the neighborhood garbage bags. But for all their ever-present…um, presence, I have yet to see a baby crow. As a boy I collected discarded robin’s eggs, without ever finding the slightest evidence that crows hatch. Instead, they seem to come into the world fully formed and filthy.

My theory is that dark and ominous thoughts float out of our heads and congeal in the upper atmosphere. There they take on feathery form before plummeting back down to earth to caw annoyingly and take part time jobs as evil omens.

I’ve been combining cut paper and wood for awhile now, and I really dig the way the natural textures and colors work together. Lately I’ve been thinking about using different shapes and kinds of wood. This is one of the first experiments in that vein. Something about the rounded shape of the wood felt feminine to me so I’ve been exploring ways to get a softer effect from the hard-edged paper, mostly by way of color combinations.

Carrion Comfort is part of The Way of Flow running from December 4, 2009 – January 2, 2010 at C.A.V.E. Gallery, Venice, CA.

Gallery Show: EtoEtceTora at Gallery kópis Tokyo

December 9, 2009 in Art, Art show, Japan, News | Add your comment

EtoEtceTora at Gallery kopis, opens December 13, 2009Ooh, this is gonna take a little work.

The title of the show, I mean. See, I totally didn’t get it myself until my stupendous wife explained the triple-layer pun to me. I don’t know if I’ll do it justice, but I’m a-gonna give it a whirl. 干支 (Eto) means the 12 Constellations of the Chinese / Japanese Zodiac; which just happens to be the main theme of this particular show. Et-cetera means what you think it means, but in katakana it reads エトセトラ. Say that “Eto-se-tora”. Following so far? 2010 is the year of the Tiger, in Japanese 寅 / Tora. And there you have it, three pronunciation-puns-in-one.

Oh yeah, and there’s gonna be all kinds of art on the wall from a bunch of talented folks. I’ll be a tiny part of the show, and plan on hanging out in the gallery a bit, at least on opening day and closing day. Stop on by if you happen to be in the neighborhood or own a Leer jet. Here’re the details:

Name: EtoEtceTora 「干支　エトセトラ・・」

Place: Kópis Gallery (http://www.g-kopis.com/)
near Kiyosumi-shirakawa station, Tokyo
ph. 03-5639-2381
1-2-12 1F Shirakawa, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0021

Dates: Sunday, December 13 – December 19, 2008 (Gallery closed on Tuesday, the 15th)
Time: 11am to 7pm (from 1pm on the 13th, until 5pm on the 19th)

Email me for times I’ll be there (though punctuality I do not promise).

Here’s a link to the gallery (all in Japanese!)

And here’s a map).

English directions from Kiyosumi-Shirakawa station: Just use exit A3, when you finish climbing the stairs take a left and then another immediate left. When you hit the road, go right and the Kopis Gallery will be on the next corner. Takes about 3 minutes.

From the Bamboo Forests of the Night

(sold)

December 2, 2009 in Art, Art show, Illustration, Illustration Friday, Japan | 13 comments

From the Bamboo Forests of the Night cut paper art by Patrick Gannonsize: 8 x 10 inches
medium: cut paper on board

Good old William Blake knew what he was talking about. Entangled in the vines and bamboo of the shadowy forest, no other animal has quite the same combination of feline grace and stealthy, coiled threat as the tiger.

虎視眈々 (koshitantan) is a yojijukugo, a Japanese idiom made up of four kanji. In this case, 虎 (ko)=tiger; 視 (shi)=eye or gaze, and 眈々 (tantan; the second character repeats the sound of the first) = to aim with ambition. Together, they mean to wait patiently while ambitiously keeping your eyes peeled for the opportunity to strike. That sure sounds like a tiger to me.

The tiger is the third animal in the Chinese (and Japanese) zodiac. I’m not sure why s/he didn’t just eat the mouse and the cow and grab first place. This particular tiger is also the second preview from The Way of Flow running from December 4, 2009 – January 2, 2010 at C.A.V.E. Gallery, Venice, CA.

Gallery Show: The Way of Flow @ C.A.V.E. Gallery, Venice, CA

November 10, 2009 in Art, Art show, News | 6 comments

The Way of Flow @ C.A.V.E. Gallery, Venice, CAI’m not sure which is weirding me out more: that I’m the featured artist for this show, or that it ends in 2010. I mean, 2010?!? Can you believe it?

I’ll update this entry with some more info and thoughts in the morning… right now, I just want to say that I’m thrilled that the good folks at C.A.V.E. have such faith in my work.

Update:
If you’ve been wondering why there hasn’t been a whole lot of new art posted recently, the answer is Flow. Here in Tokyo, it’s been nose to the grindstone time making new art and trying to give folks a great reason to go to C.A.V.E Gallery to check out this show. I think it’s going to be amazing. Not only have I been trying out some new things and working with new shapes, but the list of artists showing their work with mine is impressive indeed.

I’ll be posting teasers and previews of the new work soon. For those of you in the US, this will be the last chance to see the cut paper work in person this year. Unless you’ve picked up a piece, that is. Then you can look at it everyday. I’ve got one more small group show here in Tokyo coming up in mid-December, and then I’m planning on taking a little break for the holidays.

This is going to be an eye-popping show, and I hope that all of you (and your friends, families, acquaintances, and strangers grabbed off the street) can drop in at the gallery. Since I’m trapped here in Tokyo, send some photos of the show and I’ll post them here or on my Flickr page!

the details:
Name: The Way of Flow

opening reception: Friday December 4, 2009 (?)

dates: Friday, December 4, 2009 – January 2, 2010 (the gallery is open Wed-Sun, 11am-4pm or by appointment)

place: 507 Rose AVE, Venice, CA 90291
Tel: 310-450-6960
gallery website: right here.

The Aftermath of Superheroes and Storm Gods

October 10, 2009 in Art, Art show, Japan, News | 1 comment

AmeCome 2009 exhibitIt seems strangely appropriate that the day after the American Comics 2009 and Raijin Fujin exhibits drew to a close, Japan got hit with the biggest typhoon in ages. There was about a week of rain leading up to it, and an appropriate amount of gusting wind. Happily, the apartment is still standing and, aside for a couple late trains, Tokyo is no worse for the wear.

I’ve spent most of this past week recovering from the string of all-nighters leading up to these two shows. Even with the lack of shut-eye, I’m thrilled with the way the shows turned out. There was some fantastic artwork, and a huge turnout. If you look closely at those photos, you might even notice some new cut paper art hanging on the walls. I’ll be posting it here as soon as I can shepherd it through photoshop.

A hug Thank-You! goes out to everyone who was able to stop by the show and chat!

I wish I had had the time to get snapshots of everyone’s work. As it is, I only was able to circle half the gallery before I got shanghaied.

The photos I was able to take are on Flickr here.

Gallery Show – 風雷暴 / Fujin Raijin Exhibition @ Gallery G2

September 29, 2009 in Art, Art show, News | Add your comment

風雷暴 / Fujin Raijin Exhibition @ Gallery G2, Ginza, Tokyo opens Thursday October 1 - October 6, 2009

Like the ebony and ivory keys on a piano; like checks and balances; like peanut butter and jelly, Fujin and Raijin complete each other. The Japanese Gods of Wind and Thunder (respectively), they are nearly always pictured together, riding on the darkening clouds of an oncoming storm. Raijin bangs his thunder-drums and hurls lightning at humans and their defenseless bellybuttons. Fujin, like his breezy Greek coworker Aeolus, hauls the raging winds around in a sac and sends them screaming down to earth. They’ve spent uncountable eons together, ravaging the world with storms and typhoons.

One has to wonder, though, about their relationship. After all, it can’t be easy spending so much time together. Particularly when they are both such strong, distinct personalities. I don’t think it’s an accident that artists often depict them in the midst of a spat.

Modern artists’ stormy relationship with these two demonic looking gods is the theme of Gallery G2’s 風雷暴 / Fujin Raijin Exhibition starting this Thursday in Ginza. I’ll be showing a piece or two myself…which is why I’m gonna cut this short so I can get back to work.

I plan on being in the gallery on the opening day (Oct. 1st), at least until the lack of sleep catches up to me, and on a few hours on Sunday Oct. 4th. And I’ll be at the American Comics show at Gallery Kopis in Kiyosumi Shirakawa on Saturday Oct. 3rd from around 3pm until it closes at 5pm. Drop me a line to get times closer to the dates!

Here are the details:

Name: 風雷暴 / Fujin Raijin Exhibition

dates: Oct. 1 (Thurs) to Oct 6th (Tue) 2009

Times: 12pm to 7pm (Last Day: Closes at 4pm)

place: Gallery G2; located in Ginza, just around the corner from Melsa (メルサ）.
Tel: 03-3567-1555
gallery website: right here.
MAP

日付: ２００９年10月1日（木）〜１０月6日（火）
時間: １２時〜１９時 / 最終日は１6時まで
住所: Gallery G2 東京都中央区銀座２丁目８−２　日紫１F
電話: 03-3567-1555

Gallery Show – American Comics Exhibition 2009 ~Superheroes~

September 21, 2009 in Art, Art show, News | 2 comments

American Comics Exhibition 2009 ~Superheroes~ @ Gallery Kopis, Kiyosumishirakawa, Tokyo opens Sunday September 27 - October 3, 2009

Guess who’s back?! (hint: it’s me!)

Yes, I am again at one with the world electronical. Like just about every superhero ever (with the current exception of Bruce Wayne, who is still extremely deceased-ish… today) my computer has slapped away the grasping fingers of death to return triumphant to the realm of the animated. And boy, have I got some catching up to do.

First on my list, I am proud to announce my participation in the American Comics Exhibition 2009 ~Superheroes~ / アメリカン・コミックス展２００９〜スーパーヒーローズ〜 .

Organized by my good friend Patrick Washburn, 14 American and Japanese artists have created original work based on a “Superhero” theme. The artists range from those who work in the field of comics to painters to some guy who makes art out of nothing but paper. I expect some very cool, original takes on the theme.

the details:
Name: American Comics Exhibition 2009 ~Superheroes~
           アメリカン・コミックス展２００９〜スーパーヒーローズ〜

Official Website: All the Information You Need is Here!

dates: Sept. 27 (Sun) to Oct 3rd (Sat) 2009 (closed Tuesday the 29th)

Times: 11am to 7pm (First Day: Opens at 1pm; Last Day: Closes at 5pm)

place: Gallery Kopis; located less than a minute from Kiyosumi-Shirakawa St. exit            A3.
Tel: 03-5639-2381
gallery website: right here.

日付: ２００９年９月２７日（日）〜１０月３日（土）
時間: １１時〜１９時 / 火曜日休み / 初日開場は１３時〜 / 最終日は１７時まで
場所: 清澄白川駅から４５秒にあるギャラリー・コピス。
住所: ギャラリー コピス 〒１３５−００２１東京都江東区白河１−２−１２　１F
電話: 03-5639-2381

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