The Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM) is one of the largest museums on the campus of a junior collage in America. It's located at East LA College in Monterey Park, California. The second floor gallery is fantastic at 2500 square feet. Spearheading the project was Vy Li, Dean of Academic Affairs and with the help of Assistant to the Museum Director, Victor Parra and Museum Preparator, Jorge Claustro, the a cast of student helpers, the exhibition was put together rapidly with a large attendance throughout. This exhibition's goal was to demonstrate aspects of Giant Robot, from zines, designer vinyl figures, to art installations. The staff also allowed me to design the floor space which featured multiple viewpoints of each artists work. 

Silent Wonderment: Exploring the World of Giant Robot

April 23 to July 2, 2016

Opening reception: Saturday, April 23, 7 to 10 p.m.

What will you see in Silent Wonderment: Exploring the World of Giant Robot? It’s pieces of the wondrous world of Giant Robot in various disciplines of contemporary art, indie publishing, vinyl toy figures, and the spaces in between. The collaborative offering of husband and wife team of Ako Castuera and Rob Sato will undoubtedly transform a space into an engulfing experience. Castuera’s ceramic works and Sato’s watercolor pieces will intertwine into an expansive universe. Albert Reyes is a Los Angeles treasure, and his works investigates his surroundings of El Sereno to his views on politics and media through a mixed array of drawings. Matt Furie’s work is in perhaps the most popular meme, Pepe the Frog. His characters, range from reptilian humanoids, melting masses, and Terminators, capturing the spirit of indie comics and popular culture. We’ll also display a playable video game, “Return of the Quack” with the art of Furie and the programming of Chevy Ray Johnson. Yoskay Yamamoto is known for his wood sculptures and he’ll create a single large scale installation piece. Also on display will be works by over 20 artists and a figure display echoing the many group exhibitions at the Giant Robot 2 Gallery. Rounding out Silent Wonderment will be a “Zine Habitat,” a zine and magazine examination that’ll be a collaborative effort of Tiny Splendor zine collective andGiant Robot magazine.

“Where are the Giant Robots?” is an inevitable question. Giant Robot began as a photocopied, stapled and folded zine in 1994 and grew into a bi-monthly Asian and Asian American popular culture magazine for 16 years featuring cool films, interesting creatives, and cutting edge art. The internationally distributed magazine was often regarded as an “arbiter of cool” with cult audience hungry for culture. The publication ceased with issue 68 in 2010 and today operates Giant Robot store and GR2 Gallery in Sawtelle Japantown, West Los Angeles.

Select Press