Hello friends, super-busy over here. I will comment on your replies to yesterday's blog on Juri later. Right now I wanted to recap the first day of the Michael Lau exhibition in Los Angeles.
My friend Victor, the webmaster of CrazyToyzLife.com flew in from Canada for the show. Actually he flew to Japan, then Hong Kong and then LA for the show. He was really tired that day but super excited. Here he is pointing out Gardner street.
Victor brought me a present from Hong Kong. A heart-shaped figure that Michael did for the new Jan Lam album. The LA Fat figure on the right was the exclusive figure for the show. It came with a tee shirt and little spray cans. There are 100 in the world and I was lucky enough to score one.
After years of following his work I finally got a chance to meet the man himself. Victor had met Michael at a previous show in Hong Kong. Michael commented that I was really tall. I told him that I get that a lot. He wasn't supposed to sign autographs or make drawings until tonight (Friday) but was kind enough to oblige me with a giant illustration on the inside cover of the hardcover retrospective book. I wonder why people always draw me without a neck?
Here Michael is with that old issue of Ollie where I first discovered his work. Both he and his wife Florance, noted that he looked like a kid back then. I don't think he's aged at all. Okay, maybe some facial hair. On the right I'm hiding behind my illustration and paragraph that appears in the book itself. I'm a published writer and artist now!!!
The figures themselves were dressed in exactly the same clothes that they had 10 years ago. In previous exhibitions Michael had given them wardrobe changes. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary they were back to normal. The amount of detail from the figures was obscene. The photos simply do not do them justice. It was amazing seeing them in person and absorbing all the details. I could spend days just looking them over.
My favorite figures were even better than I remembered them. Michael made sure to include his earliest sketches and illustrations from the pages of East Touch magazine.
The gallery walls were adorned with some new and rare pieces. I even pointed out an unpublished comic that had been faintly superimposed on the back of a page. Michael said I had a very good eye to have caught that.
Could this be a hint as to Michael's next collaboration?
There were a few artists and celebs walking the floor. Here are Joe Hahn of Linkin Park and artist Gary Baseman. I wish you were here! Tomorrow I'm going with the g/f and her daughter to Disneyland. On Sunday she meets my mom. Things should be good. I hope you have a great weekend! Let me know what you are up to. EDIT: I created a fan page dedicated to the Art of Michael Lau in the early 2000's. I let the domain expire in the mid 2010's because I no longer had time, or money to keep it going. Although it will no longer be getting updates I have restored it on my personal server for people that want to find out about the Urban Vinyl movement. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!
No comments:
Post a Comment