“Beauty in Landscape: A Blockbuster Exhibition from the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Historical Makeovers”

at Swarm Gallery in Oakland, CA

October 13 – November 25, 2012

Kathy Aoki revisited her role as curator of the fictive Museum of Historical Makeovers in her second solo exhibition at Swarm gallery in Oakland. This time, Aoki presented work in multiple media (drawing, etching, photo, and painting) that cheekily centers around the concept of the Landscape. Visitors learned about an ill-fated attempt by one artist to create a Hello Kitty Mount Rushmore in a Canadian cliff, reminisced about the Princess effect on the urban landscapes as depicted in editorial cartoons, and enjoyed the beauty of watercolored mascara forestscapes.

Curator talk by Kathy Aoki, November 8th, 2012 at 7pm

Kathy Aoki draws with ink, mixed media, and a wacom stylus.

“The Museum of Historical Makeovers” series originated as a solo show at Swarm Gallery in Oakland, California in the fall of 2009. The exhibition featured three distinct areas of fictive historical artifacts and illustrations: etchings of beauty procedures, fake technical drawings of beauty treatments and products, and Egyptian style artifacts of a contemporary pop diva.  As the “Museum” name implies, I created a pseudo-museum environment. Set in the future ( 3011 A.D.), the museum showcased “historical” artifacts while addressing current beauty and pop culture concepts. Educational labels, audio tour, and hieroglyphic learning guides enhanced the museum experience.

Etchings:
The etchings are based on master works depicting surgery, such as Thomas Eakins’ painting “The Gross Clinic” and Rembrandt’s “Anatomy Lesson.” I redrew the paintings using a digital drawing tablet so they appear as traditional etchings with aquatint. The scenes were altered to represent modern beauty procedures of hair removal and skin bleaching. In the museum label, the etchings are described as anonymous but attributed to a fictive German art studio, Atelier Wenceslas.

Drawings:
I created ink/watercolor drawings and monotypes in the style of technical illustrations found in Diderot’s eighteenth century Encylopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, an ambitious encyclopedia project published between 1751 and 1772 in France.  While maintaining an antiquated appearance, my drawings illustrate modern beauty procedures such as Botox injection and lower back tattooing.

Egyptian Artifacts
The Museum included mixed media works representing the burial artifacts from pop singer Gwen Stefani’s fictive Egyptian-style, mortuary temple. These faux artifacts play upon ideas of the deification of celebrities within pop culture and the media. As the museum labels explain, the Gwen Stefani was the ruler of the Pop Empire during a period known as the “Tragic Kingdom.” Burial artifacts include canopic jars (ceramic), burial coasters(sand-blasted alabaster) for her ethereal beverages in the afterlife, and a commemorative stone tablet (mixed media) which illustrates how the back-up dancer Angel joined the other Harajuku Girls in Stefani’s entourage.

The “Museum” work continues today in the form of animation, pop-star reliquaries, and Stefani mummy votive offerings.

Kathy Aoki creates linoleum relief prints, etchings, silkscreen and lithos. She received her MFA in Printmaking from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Relief prints, mixed media works on paper, wall installation, sculpture

2001-2008

This series is a visual allegory, which illustrates how the media affects and exploits girls. Narrative prints, paintings, and sculpture, depict an alternate universe run by animé-style female construction workers who build false monuments to girlhood for worship. I chose the ubiquitous, animé style of drawing for these construction girls because they represent the media. Teddy bears (who represent young, innocent females) are harvested by the construction cuties and processed into sexy, submissive workers. In addition to the animé girls and teddy bears, there is a third character set of ultra-cute “lambie” animals. These animals are metaphors for the seductive “kawaii” (Japanese for “cute culture”) trends and take an honored place in the twisted universe I create.

The work is full of detail and color, portraying construction sites studded with hearts and butterflies. I want the viewer to initially think, “Right-on, girl power…” However, closer inspection reveals disturbing events that have little to do with true girl power, such as forced makeovers and “pony dips” (to ensure the love of ponies).

The size of the works range from 14” x 15” linoleum relief prints, to a 6ft wide painting on shaped paper, to a wall installation which is 20 linear feet and contains elements that jut out up to 18” from the wall.

Arnold in Political Paper Dolls

“Political Paper Dolls” by Kathy Aoki

Steel, Mixed Media, Canvas, Magnets

2012

This large scale interactive installation was commissioned by the San Jose Museum of Art for the exhibition “Renegade Humor,” on display at SJMA from February 3 – July 8, 2012. The four steel “paperdoll” figures with interchangeable clothing include:

“Arnie’s Garb”

“Obama’s Pajamas”

“Color Me Palin”

“Newt’s Suits”

The artwork is based on original linoleum cuts with watercolor, which were translated into steel figures, and painted with acrylic, UV-light cured inks at Magnolia Editions in Oakland , California. The clothing, also based on Aoki linocuts, was printed with archival, pigmented inks on gessoes canvas. Vinyl magnets on the clothing tabs allows the viewer to dress the figures. Each political figure has three specially designed outfits, but most clothing pieces are mix and match. For example, Obama can wear Sarah Palin’s basketball outfit, while Newt can model the “Governator” outfit designed for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The piece is comprised of the four steel figures (each approx 36” tall), two clothing boards (4ft x 8 ft  each, made of printed steel mounted onto wood), and the interchangeable canvas clothing outfits for all four figures. One additional set of all clothing pieces is included. As installed at SJMA, the piece takes up approximately 30 ft of linear wall space.

All photos by David Wilcox.