DREAM SO MUCH 2 ARTISTS BOOKS
NOW AVAILABLE
32 Pages; Full Color; Glossy;
Dimensions: 9 in. x 9 in.
Art by Dalek, Misk, MatzuMTP, and Kenji Hirata
Forward by Franklin Sirmans
Essays by Co-curators Richard S. Chang & Alexandra Chang. Limited
Edition of 1,000. More Info.
$12 (Postage Paid)
ABOUT
DREAM SO MUCH 2
Within the past few years, graffiti and street art and their
accompanying lifestyle have become an increasingly visible form of
expression in Japanese youth culture. Within this growing movement,
American street artists are embraced as icons and celebrities.
The adoption of American street culture by Japan's youth hasn't simply
bred a culture of imitation and consumerism; it has influenced and
ignited a stronger movement. Young Japanese artists have taken the raw
energy of street expression and shaped it into their own style,
incorporating integral elements from their heritage as well as modern
Japanese cultural icons and identifiers. And they've broken new ground.
What makes this transformation of street art so unusual and amazing is
that it has found its way back to the source. Japanese artists have
relocated to America and in the process, they have become part of the
same system that created them and continues to influence those artists
still in Japan. The ease of their fluid movement between overlapping
cultures seems to become an organic one, defying artificial definitions
of cultural authenticity or straightforward appropriation. They create
within the realm of the cultural hybrid in a play space with no
boundaries.
Located at the Asian American Arts Centre in the heart of New York
City's vibrant Chinatown, Dream So Much 2 will be a visual art
exhibition featuring James Marshall (Dalek), Sandro Tchikovani (Misk), Kenji
Hirata, and Tomo Matsuyama (MatzuMTP),
four exciting young artists representing the two stages of the cycle of
influence, from American graffiti-influenced artists, Marshall and
Tchikovani, to graffiti's Japanese disciples, Hirata and Matsuyama, who
have adopted and adapted the tenets and soul of graffiti and street art
in advancing their own styles.
MISSION
Dream So Much is the brain child of brother-sister tandem
Richard S. Chang and Alexandra Chang, who live and work in New York
City. In March 2002, dream so much held its first exhibition, featuring
urban artists Random von Notthaus (Buff Monster) and Christopher Chin
(Tofer) alongside printmakers Emma Presler and Alexandra Chang,
photographer Iuri Frigoletto, and video artist Jason Scott Jones. dream
so much was founded as an artists collective on the principle of
promoting and aiding young emerging artists, notably of urban
backgrounds.
Richard S. Chang has written both fiction and non-fiction pieces for
publications including The New York Times, Columbia: A Journal of
Literature and Art, The Tulane Review, Transworld Stance among others.
He has written previously on graffiti art and street culture.
Alexandra Chang is a filmmaker and cultural critic. She is also the
managing editor of ART Asia Pacific and a consultant at the Asian
American Arts Centre. She has written catalogue essays for artists
David Diao and Gang Zhao and the "Mythical Nation" show for ArtSpace.
She is currently producing a film on Asian American Art.
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