Speiclal limited collection

Mr. | Hikari Shimoda | Ayako Rokkaku | Javier Calleja | BE@RBRICK | Labubu | Takashi Murakami | Yayoi Kusama | Hiroyuki Matsuura 10/20-11/30

Japanese animation culture has taken the world by storm, and it has influenced many artists and created new cultural styles. In recent years, it has flourished in the art market.In this exhibition, YiCOLLECTA brings a number of limited works of artists, such as Mr., Hikari Shimoda, Ayako Rokkaku, Javier Calleja, BE@RBRICK and Labubu. The limited products include Hikari Shimoda’s exquisite sculpture figurine, Ayako Rokkaku X see see wooden vase, Javier Calleja's big eyes sculpture figurine, and the limited edition of BE@RBRICK and Japanese illustrator Sorayama. Also Included, Kusama’s pumpkin goods with Hiroyuki Matsuura’s limited Ducky Brigade are relaunched. A series of marvelous limited selections are on YiCOLLECTA.

Mr
Mr. (Masakatsu Iwamoto) and Takashi Murakami are Japanese artists of the Superflat movement, whose neo-pop aesthetics spans painting, sculpture, installation, and video. Mr.’s work similarly employs the visual language of otaku, he uses animation, video games, girls, and other elements to depict his personal fantasy. In the typical kawaii style, he sometimes portrays childish features (round face, wide eyes, colorful hair) in a lively and cute way. These girls are ambiguously hovering between innocence and over-sexiness. They seem to be the common loli in anime, but they are given an independent and powerful presence in many of Mr.'s works. Contrasting with the bright cheerfulness of his all-powerful characters, a wider reflection on solitude, social anxiety, and fear underlies his work. Bright and colorful pictures always have a potential sense of emptiness, return, and withdrawal from reality. This is Mr.'s way of responding to his own problems. Mr. has collaborated with the Supreme clothing brand and has exhibited with Rei Sato, Chiho Aoshuma, and Aya Takano. His work can be found in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Daegu Art Museum, South Korea, among others.

Hikari Shimoda
Hikari Shimoda's work depicts a world where cuteness and horror coexist. The dazzling and sweet pictures are fascinating, but there are dark warnings in the details. She grew up in the comics generation. Inspired by the Japanese manga and anime from her youth, Shimoda’s work expresses modern-day issues in colorful and illustrative techniques. The eyes of the children depicted by Shimoda Hikaru are full of stars, and the characters often dress up like superheroes and magical girls. This is a comic style of the magical hero type, revealing problems and struggles in contemporary society through a juxtaposition of colors, elements, text, and collage. The delicate brushwork hides the message of "death" in the dazzling picture. This is Shimoda’s response to various issues of life and the environment.
Hikari Shimoda was born in 1984, Nagano, Japan, she first studied illustration at the prestigious Kyoto Saga University of Art. She was selected for her first solo exhibition at Motto Gallery in Tokyo and has since held exhibitions in galleries worldwide, including Japan, the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Ayako Rokkaku
Ayako Rokkaku never attended art school but is completely self-taught, developing her own unique painting technique. Her works are full of cartoon-like dream elements, using bright and gorgeous landscapes, floating flowers, animals, and skulls that fill the screen. A recurring element in her work is the prominent presence of young girls, which she paints in the manga style, with large eyes and long limbs. The diminutive artist likes to make large paintings, touching the paint directly with both hands. Influenced by the Italian Arte Pover, she really likes to use materials that are readily available every day for her creations. Such a creative approach reflects her commitment to breaking the constraints of “elegance” that art should be, as well as realizing the truth of life.
Ayako Rokkaku(1982-) born in Chiba Japan, never attended art school but is completely self-taught, developing her own unique painting technique, she created her first paintings in 2002. She won prizes at Geisai, an art fair for emerging artists in Tokyo, since her first solo show at Gallery Delaive in 2007, Walkin’ Around Clouds, Rokkaku has exhibited her work in Asia, Europe, and the United States. She has had solo shows in Rotterdam’s Kunsthal museum, in The Netherlands, the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Slovakia, and the Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art in Japan.

BE@RBRICK x Hajime Sorayama
BE@RBRICK and Japanese Artist Hajime Sorayama jointly created the Iron Man work, mainly using "Mark 18" as the core design, combined with the high-reflective metal texture of the style of Sorayama to complete the overall shape and painting. Produce BE@RBRICK works with a stronger sense of technology. Even on the thighs of the steel clothes, there are Chinese characters "Iron Man" engraved.

BE@RBRICK is the well-known "Block Bear", a toy produced by Japan's MEDICOM company, the creator is Tatsuhiko Akashi. The design of BE@RBRICK is derived from a Lego brickman named "Kubrick" in the brand, The name is a tribute to the famous director Stanley Kubrick. Because of the high popularity of Kubrick, Tatsuhiko Akashi launched his new project, BE@RBRICK. It was originally used as a souvenir for the toy fair, but because of its cute shape, it has attracted many people's love. Tatsuhiko Akashi said that he would choose to use a bear as the shape. At first, he didn't want to change Kubrick's original design and coupled with the 100th anniversary of the teddy bear, he created the well-known BE@RBRICK today. BE@RBRICK has a wide range of partners, ranging from animations, fashion and artists to artists. In recent years, it has also collaborated with KAWS and SketOne.

Javier Calleja
Spanish artist Javier Calleja created characters with disproportionately large heads, exaggerated eyes, and dark and humorous text to write down the figures’ clothing or other relevant places. At first glance, his works might be mistaken for Japanese artists, but Calleja said that he was a man who grew up in the comics generation. The work is deeply influenced by Japanese animation. The creation tries to tease the world through cute black humor in the high-pressure modern society and brings the relief of knowing smiles to modern people. His creative context follows the aesthetic conventions of comics and illustrations in children’s books for simplicity and immediacy.

Javier Calleja was born in Málaga, 1971 and completed bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, University of Granada in 2000. At Christie’s Modern and Contemporary Art Evening sale in Hong Kong in July 2020, his work "WHAT?" set an auction record. Calleja has held solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, Greece, Germany, Tokyo, Spain, Rome, London, and other international cities. Also participated in art fairs, such as Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Brussels. His work has been published in Juxtapoz, Hypebeast, and other international art publications.

Labubu Clockwork Tricycle
With long bunny-eared, jagged fangs, and a sense of good and evil, Labubu is actually just a mischievous elfin. This little elfin named Labubu was born in Kasing Lung's pen. Kasing moved to the Netherlands with his family as a child. So he came into contact with many fairy tales in Europe and became obsessed with them. He discovered that although there are many fairy legends in Europe, they have not been seen in children’s illustrated books. Therefore, he began to create his own illustrated books, which he called "The Monsters", which contained characters with different personalities.

Originally, they were only characters in children's illustrated books. Once they received an invitation from the Hong Kong toy brand How2Work and started to make these characters three-dimensional. Kasing Lung also began to move from the field of children's illustrated books to the field of figurines. After "The Monsters" became a figurine series, the most popular ones are the long bunny-eared Labubu and the skull Tycoco. The interaction between the two is very cute.

The "The Monsters" has produced different series of figurine works, including Labubu Space Adventures, Labubu Forest Concert, Labubu Flower Elves and so on. This time, Labubu Clockwork Tricycle are out, matched with colorful tricycles. Labubu wearing a red suit still maintains the temperament of both righteousness and evil.

（Exhibition Ended）

Curator: YiCOLLECTA