Seen: Kaiju Monster Invasion

DSC_9261

Miami was abuzz this past weekend with the non-stop art insanity that is Art Basel.  It’s a great event, but at the end of the day it’s an enormous collection of art gallery exhibitions.  So how do you get your toy fix along with your art fix ?

Harold Golen Gallery worked with several sponsors including STRANGEco to bring the art of toys alive during Art Basel with the impressive Kaiju Monster Invasion: Miami Beach show @ ArtCenter/South Florida.  The show opened on Wednesday, December 3rd and runs through January 4th 2009.  We caught the show during the artist signing this past Saturday (12.6) and came way very impressed.  It’s really two shows in one — a  toy/custom sculpture show combined with an exhibition of Kaiju inspired paintings.

The first thing you notice when you enter the gallery is the giant Darkron from Carlos Enriquez Gonzales.  It stands an eye-popping, mind-blowing fourteen feet!   The scale of it is immense as you can seen in the pic above — it dwarfs Carlos.  Stunning piece, gorgeous paint job,  and amazing effort  to get it to the States — air freight alone was a whopping 6K.  Carlos also offered several other stunning pieces including a Brain Helmet and one of his ‘Vagina’ pieces.   Carlos has created an impressive body of work by  working with the Kaiju genre as a starting point for his own original sculptures.

Nearby, Ron English’s huge brilliant and eclectic Diorama (5′ x 6′ x 4′) really needs to be seen to be truly appreciated.  It’s a tour de fource — the wax-like cave structure is filled with custom hand-painted versions of Ron’s various toys.  If that was all there was it would be rad — but Ron challenges the viewer by adding in kitschy elements such as preserved fish throughout the muck.

As an interesting aside, Ron uses such dioramas as a part of his painting process. He lights them with colored lights and picks various angles as scenes to paint from.   Fascinating.

Other excellent 3D work includes Mark Nagata’s ceramic Eyezons, Bob Conge’s Plaseebo shadowbox piece, and Mars-1’s two large pieces. There were also plenty of amazing hand-painted custom Kaiju pieces for sale.

Moving into the 2D realm, the show features a large number of excellent paintings from several well-known low brow painters and Kaiju artists including Amanda Visell, Glenn Barr, Naoto Hattori, Martin Ontiveros, Kiyoka Ikeda  and more.  Some are clearly Kaiju inspried while others focus on giant robots or monsters more generally. 

The show is a visual feast and must be seen in person to be truly appreciated.  Kudos to Harold Golen for putting it together.  If you’re near Miami — go check it out.  Plenty o’pics after the jump.

Artcenter / South Flordia
800 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach, FL 33139