Toy Art Gallery opened 'Karoshi' on Friday evening, featuring the wild, inventive, and refreshingly askew sofubi stylings of two gaijin, Grody Shogun and Velocitron, making their toy dreams a thriving reality. The pair have been working overtime risking Karoshi –Japanese for death by overworking, on a large number of pieces including original creations from both artists and collaborative mashups. The mashups juxtapose Velocitron's visceral aesthetic with its spine tingling intensity and Grody's easy-going, happy go lucky characters.
The show includes numerous custom painted one-off pieces as well as small-run editions, a few of which sold-out before I took these shots. There's plenty of goodness left including a few of Grody's yellow TAG edition Monsters, one of which I couldn't resist. Plus, word is that the boys are cranking on follow-on editions of the sold-out figures. While neither artist was able to make the trip from Japan, they did the next best — a live video Skype connection. In addition to chatting with collectors, the partners in crime also made customs on the spot with suggestions from the audience. Very cool.
