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Mini Blog: Katie Decker “Is King”
08-06-2010 12:51:39
The Mini Blog series will feature the thoughts of interns and employees here at Mighty Tanaka on individual pieces of artwork that we have in the inventory. Basically: everyone pick a favorite and write about it!
Mini Blog: Katie Decker “Is King”
by Jaclyn Atkinson
Katie Decker’s fine art reflects the design work she does day by day in a more freely creative light. Her study of the history of typography benefits her art greatly; the images she presents often combine text, antiqued transferred visuals, and stained papers to create a design of congruency and beauty. The piece “Is King” is in fact the only piece in Mighty Tanaka’s collection to not yet have found a home. In person, the light but far from translucent white writing reads “Man meets woman, man falls in love with woman, woman breaks mans heart.” A sad but all too common tale for some, the crown is left for the heart unbroken. Katie Decker’s whimsical, almost ancient storybook style art feels like written law, or an ancient constitution, promising to repeat.
Click here if you are interested in purchasing the piece, or just want to view more of Katie Decker’s work.
Katie Decker-Is King
.jpg "Katie Decker-Is King (Close Up)")
Katie Decker-Is King (Close Up)
Mini Blog: Don Pablo Pedro “Visions of Goya with a Tummy Ache”
08-05-2010 14:48:53
The Mini Blog series will feature the thoughts of interns and employees here at Mighty Tanaka on individual pieces of artwork that we have in the inventory. Basically: everyone pick a favorite and write about it!
Mini Blog: Don Pablo Pedro “Visions of Goya with a Tummy Ache”
by Jaclyn Atkinson
Don Pablo Pedro is inspired by traditional illustration ranging from ancient religious book illumination to the horror comics and colors of the 1950s and obviously by Goya and his visionary prints in The Disasters of War. In fact, this piece is an ode to the great Goya, much like his print A heroic feat! With dead men! which depicts butchered bodies piled on a tree being penetrated by and tied to branches, Don Pablo Pedro instead depicts what we can assume as Goya himself in the same situation, the tummy ache being caused by the branch violently protruding from it, in a pile of the dead. Even more (or perhaps to some, less) romantically, the trees are cut short as well, having been chopped off to stumps, leaving the peoples limbs astray like the branches in the Goya masterpiece. This piece is as much of an ode to the great Goya as it is a joke on him (or in him).
Click here if you are interested in the piece!
Don Pablo Pedro-Visions Of Goya With A Tummy Ache
Mini Blog: EMA “Hot Cocoa on Kerala Backwater”
08-04-2010 12:43:40
The Mini Blog series will feature the thoughts of interns and employees here at Mighty Tanaka on individual pieces of artwork that we have in the inventory. Basically: everyone pick a favorite and write about it!
Mini Blog: EMA “Hot Cocoa on Kerala Backwater”
by Jaclyn Atkinson
Hot cocoa clouds dripping, whimsy flowers blowing, marshmallow skin, golden drops of milk, a playful calico cat, all on a rainy afternoon of a backdrop canvas. “Hot Cocoa on Kerala Backwater’ by EMA makes me feel the warm and fuzzies like nothing else in the collection. I personally feel like it belongs in a place of equal grandeur and desire, a place of quiet luxury that exudes that relaxed feeling of a slow paced cozy coffee shop. This painting invites the viewer to breathe slow, dream big, deeply relax into that cup of cocoa, let the tension of the world escape you if only for a moment.
Click here to experience the piece for yourself.
Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell / New Century Art
06-29-2010 16:00:43
Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell I Found New Century Art
By Jaclyn Atkinson
Group shows are always a curiosity because every artist brings different individual experiences and memories to their pieces, and thus to the show itself. The artists of Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell may have had similar inspirations, all being drawn to the city life, all focusing on the chaos of humanity in some way; but the way these artists convey this muse is as diverse as their methods, insecurities, and other lifelong observations.
These differences, these abrupt introversions, are what make a group show. Here, this month at Mighty Tanaka, you can see 50’s cartoon inspired Burlesque Dancers (Robbie Busch), mirror-hall worthy mustache and mask reflections (Skewville), transcendent and humanized animals facing inner struggles (Alexis Trice), angry portraits seeking personal balance (KOSBE), smog clouds and family portraits (EMA), and outsider work from a city perspective (Josh McCutchen). All mixed in a hodge-podge of what Mighty Tanaka chooses to term New Century Art, a collective term as broad as the artwork that resides within it, folk art for the new age, a hybrid of styles and ideas that mesh into this same personal reflection represented by the artists of Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. Perhaps it’s the freedom that we enjoy as artists today to pick and choose any style that calls our name; perhaps it’s through divulging our own human insecurities that creates this general sentiment of self-certainty.
Whatever the reason, such variety within the art world creates an of atmosphere honesty, where, in a place where every artist may have similar inspiration, each memory is still their own.
Come check out Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell and catch a glimpse of what these artists have offered to you.
To see a complete list of the inventory from Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, please visit: http://mightytanaka.myshopify.com/collections/somewhere-between-heaven-and-hell
JMR solo exhibition Of Clouds and Something Else
05-05-2010 13:20:05
JMR has a contemporary pop style all his own. He mixes his street style with a neo-abstract form on large canvases, which blossom into brilliant stained glass-like interpretations. He creates another universe of color and abstraction through dividing color planes surrounded by thick black line. Organic forms shift into outlines of trees, clouds, and city buildings, performing a dance of color and shape, expanding the idea of abstraction with such illustrative subjects. This show at Mighty Tanaka focuses on JMR’s new work, inspired by the deconstruction of his typical style, allowing more room for juxtaposing the representational with the abstract. It is truly a delight for the retina. JMR’s solo show Of Clouds and Something Else will only be up until the 14th, so be sure to check it out soon! This Thursday, May 6th, is the Culture 411 DUMBO 1st Thursday Gallery Walk from 6pm - 9pm, so stop on by and see these mesmerizing canvases for yourself.
Fairy Tale, 2010, Acrylic on Canvas, 36"x48”
Future of the Head Chakra
03-30-2010 12:01:45
Future of the Head Chakra
By Jaclyn Atkinson
We’ve all been hearing a lot about 3D these day: 3D blockbusters such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, 3D TV to be released shortly and for ridiculously high prices and new 3D Nintindo DS game systems. We are living in a virtual world that turns more and more real everyday. In the light of this new arena of experiences, it is no wonder that artists have begun exploring the options of 3D as well. Year of the Head Chakra at Mighty Tanaka involves three artists, Lionel Guzman, Ed Shawn Herrera, and Reginald Pean, and their dreamlike vision of the future, brought to you through polarized lenses and psychedelic color vibrations.
The exploration of a three dimensional art experience is not a new quest, since the sixties and seventies we’ve seen psychedelic images and op art that are meant to visually take the viewer from a 2D platform to a 3D one. The popularity of such art has come and gone, however it is within the 21st century that it may form again. Just like everything else in our “Google”-able world, it seems that there is a neo-psychedelic phase on the rise, welcoming even broader aspects of technology into it’s ideology. These are undeniably exciting times we live in, from the polarized lens glasses that we provided for the guests of the show, to the 3D blue-ray technology of today’s blockbuster events that we all rush to see, but what does this resurgence really lead up to?
Why are we so interested in tricking our vision? In seeing 2D as 3D? When really, let’s not forget, everything we touch is in fact three dimensional, yet it is the visual follies and technology that fascinates us. Maybe it is the promise of a new tomorrow, the perceivable growth of society to achieve new means of creativity and thus, possibility. It is a very inspirational idea for everyone, the 3D technology is just now on the rise, leaving limitless ideas revolving around this technology, new ways of playing, reading, watching, doing, from Wii Sports to commercial info-graphics, everything has the potential to be more exciting, to involve more interaction, who knows, maybe even more 3D gallery events.
Ed Shawn Herrera, Sub-Conscious Monster Wondering the Desert, 2010, Acrylic and Ballpoint Pen on Framed Paper
Reginald Pean, Wizards Battle, 2009, Collage on Framed Paper
Lionel Guzman, The 9th Humarian Alphabet of the Gantinium Trans-Universe Union 4020 A.D., 2010, Mixed Media on Paper Pasted Wood
My Experiences in Turbulent Utopia
03-03-2010 15:51:21
By Jack E. Atkinson
In almost photogenic cleanliness Pacula abducts the viewer into her artwork through texture, light, freedom, and complexity. The paint, thick and caked, has formed movements of assurance, speed, and trust through Pacula’s strong brushstrokes. Her willing freedom to break the “rules” of art by creating lines straight through and/or placing the brightest/whitest colors in the very center of her paintings adds interest to her work. The darting zigzags of color are intoxicating and intriguing, bold and spacious, they create the neon/electronic networking of what we recognize as the cityscape, a city of exhilaration and exuberance.
The complexity comes from the idea itself, are these photo realistic representations of the city? Or do they represent more? It depends where it takes you, to the sidewalks of the city, any city. Within any city you’ve become familiar with the emotions and anxieties that these paintings reflect. The overwhelming aura of speed, rush hour every hour, the feeling of being wound tight, of overwhelming lights, the anxiety of motion yet the need to go faster, drugged on psychedelics and wandering through the neon streets at night. Her cityscapes entrance and dizzy with their pure colors and surreal movement.
This Is Hybridism
12-18-2009 18:43:48
Hybridism is a word that not only refers to the art show, but it’s also a term that I am using to describe the young and progressive art movement of today. It is the reaction to the “Everything that can be done, has been done” mentality and provides a means of outward expression for individuals who create art that is not of a single genre. Hybridism is a collage of ideas and influences, techniques and mediums, all on an equal and level playing field. Furthermore, I classify Hybridism as the Art of the Now, challenging the elitist nature of our current art culture by integrating a cross section of artists that represent the range and breadth of today’s emerging creativity. Hybridism is nothing new, as the idea of merging and conflicting styles has been a constant in art for quite some time. While there do exist some descriptions that denote the art of today, such as “Outsider Art” or “New Contemporary Movement”, the terminology fails to capture the essence and integrity of the work, which is the conglomeration of influences from a multitude of sources and time periods. It’s also my opinion that the term “Contemporary Art” is no longer applicable as an umbrella description, as we enter and progress into the 21st century. I believe that new terminology must be used when speaking of this eclectic creative renaissance, as this is new art represents an emerging generation of artistic integrity. Hybridism becomes the joining force that brings the loose ends together.
Skewville-Skew Dog
Adam Miller Invitation
Robbie Busch- El Diablo
AVOID pi Video
12-16-2009 18:13:03
Mighty Tanaka featured artist AVOID pi brings us a cross-section of his life, art, music and inspirations with the premier of his latest hybrid graffiti video!
Mighty Tanaka & PSFK Article
12-16-2009 18:11:38
PSFK Article on “Hybridism: Where Raw Meets Refined” Exhibition.
http://www.psfk.com/2009/12/hybridism-where-raw-meets-refined.html
Marlo Marquise
12-16-2009 18:10:28
Did you know that Mighty Tanaka featured artist Marlo Marquise not only paints portraits of celebrity misfits, but she also has a stunning pin-up modeling portfolio and is coming up big time in the NYC burlesque scene too! Definitely check out her fan page, then lift your chin off the ground…
http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Marlo-Marquise/198792406103?ref=mf
Vinny Cornelli on Friends We Love blog
12-16-2009 18:09:11
Mighty Tanaka featured artist Vinny Cornelli makes an appearance on the Friends We Love blog! His “Street Layers” photography urges the viewer to take a closer look at the urban environment, revealing the beauty of the fine detail. Vinny is most definitely a friend who we love as well!
http://friendswelove.com/blog/street-layers-we-love-vinny-cornelli-photographer-guest-blogger/
Brooklyn Street Art Blog on Mighty Tanaka Studio
12-07-2009 10:19:57
Have NO Fear – Mighty Tanaka is Here!
Check out the article from Brooklyn Street Art on our opening and shiny new studio!
http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=6326
blurb:
Mighty Tanaka Gallery, a labor of love turned a reality with the vision of Alex Emmart, who has been toiling behind the scenes for a couple of years to build a rather strong and fairly eclectic collection of art and artists – many of them fresh out the gate.
Mighty Tanaka featured on Curated Magazine
12-07-2009 10:14:50
Mighty Tanaka is featured on the latest Curated Magazine blog! Check it out!!
http://www.curatedmag.com/news/2009/12/03/mighty-tanaka-hybridism-preview/
Mighty Tanaka Grand Opening - Hybridism
Mighty Tanaka Grand Opening - Hybridism
Welcome to Mighty Tanaka Studio
11-29-2009 20:12:56
Hello and welcome to the newly overhauled Mighty Tanaka website! Please bear with us, as we are still ironing out the kinks. In order to create a fully accessible and interactive site, we scrapped the original website design in order to provide you with something much more function and utilitarian. We look to familiarize you with the artists and artwork as well as the gallery and Mighty Tanaka as a whole. We will be continuously working on improving the site over the next month, bringing you some of the hottest artwork from NYC.
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Featured Artists
ADAM MILLER ALEXANDRA PACULA ALEXIS TRICE AVOID BLOKE BRUNO PERILLO DESTROY AND REBUILD DON PABLO PEDRO ELLIS GALLAGHER FARO HELLBENT INFINITY JMR JOHN BREINER JOSH MCCUTCHEN KATIE DECKER KOSBE LIONEL GUZMAN MARIKEELER MARLO MARQUISE MAX GREIS MIKE SCHREIBER PETER HALASZ REGINALD PEAN ROBBIE BUSCH ROYCE BANNON SKEWVILLE VINNY CORNELLI