Giant Kaiju
Art Center South Florida, 800 Lincoln Road.
Godzilla, Rodan, Gamera, Mothra are examples of famous Kaiju, which means strange beast or Monster in Japanese. Harold Golen curates an exhibition “Kaiju Monster Invasion, Miami Beach“, where Pop Surrealists have turned these beasts into vinyl “toys”.
One window of ACSF is stuffed with these creatures…..never has the glass been so stained with little (and not so little) fingers and noses pressed against the glass. This is not my area of expertise, but there are Kaiju animation, toys, movies, comics, Sci-Fi books, you name it. Appearing in Japan in the 50’s and sixties; these toys were all hand-painted.
The collectibles are becoming significant in world popular culture.
NOVA Southeastern Univ Prof James B. Levy collector of vintage Japanese vinyl figures
The exhibition was presented for Art Basel week and continues to January 4th, so move yer bunnies before it’s over or your Pop knowledge quotient will be sadly inadequate.
Harold Golen of the Harold Golen Gallery (imagine that) has been a presence on the Miami art circuit since opening his gallery in November 2007 in time for Art Basel….a month later this exciting new gallery was charcoal-grilled to a frazzle. Harold has since been in temp digs at 314 NW 24th St, Wynwood, but plans to move back to his newly rebuilt space sometime in 2009. Golen’s handle on Pop culture is always evident in his presentations, and you just never know what he may have on offer when it comes to entertaining evenings. Just his personal shirt collection alone can be worth a “Hey there”.
South Florida Art Center, established in 1984, is one of the most important reasons that Lincoln Road became…well, LINCOLN ROAD. When I first moved to Miami - in the last millennium - Lincoln Road was a ghost town complete with tumbleweeds (metaphorically speaking of course, but barely). An Art Store was recently opened inside the site.
FYI: Beginning in January 16th 2009 there will be Friday night lectures to absorb along with a glass of wine from 6PM til 7:30PM
Suggestion: Whether or not you have re-named your significant other any of these famous Kaiju names is basically irrelevant; but you may want to put a little more thought into your love interest if things have deteriorated to this point.
For more info: Kaiju Monster Invasion, Miami Beach
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