Retrospect: The Bridge is Over

Art Shows, Calligraphy, Events

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Group show featuring East Bay artist “The Bridge is Over”, presented by Spoke Art, just opened last Saturday at Lopo Gallery, San Francisco.  I had one piece exhibited in this show.

“Who You Are Defines What You Do”

I made this piece early this year, and kept in my studio since, but have never shown it at any galleries. Decided to show this time…

Larger view: My piece was placed next to Eddie Colla‘s work…

Lopo Gallery has three rooms connected, and you enter from the entrance of Space Gallery on Polk Street.

Go visit Spoke Art blog for a slideshow of photos from the night of the opening reception, taken by Shaun Roberts.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS on SPOKEBLOG

Photos by Spoke Art

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Upcoming: THE BRIDGE IS OVER @ Lopo Gallery

Art Shows, Calligraphy, Events

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I’m going to be in a group show “THE BRIDGE IS OVER” this Saturday November 27, 2010, at Lopo Gallery SF.  I will exhibit one of my new calligraphy works (new series), which was supposed to be my personal collection.

“Spoke Art is proud to present our next group offering: “The Bridge is Over”. A reference to the classic Boogie Down Productions track made in the turmoils of the Bronx/Queens hip-hop beef, The Bridge is Over has been re-contextualized to signify the disparate gap that exists between the culture and topography of the greater Bay Area. Spoke Art has enlisted our favorite artists who live and work in the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, etc.) and brought them together to show San Francisco the quality of work, and strength of the scene, that exists just over the Bay Bridge.”

Come and join us to view a selection of amazing photography, sculpture, street art and painting all being created in the Greater East Bay, the show opens Saturday, November 27th.
Due to the gallery’s liquor license, the opening night party is 21+ (free to the public)
An all ages preview will be made available before the bar opens from 6-8PM, complimentary food and beverage will be served.

Artists include:
Attaboy, Brett Amory, John Felix Arnold III, Kate August, Nicholas Lea Bruno, John Casey, Monica Canilao, Eddie Colla, Dave Correia, Meagan Donegan, Emory Douglas, GATS, Carolynn Haydu, Hunter de la Ghetto, Peter Gronquist, Scott Hove, Jeremiah Jenkins, Keba Konte, Justin Lovato, Amanda Lopez, Becca Jay, Daryll Peirce, Deth P Sun, Ras Terms, Gina Tuzzi, Annie Vought, Derek Weisberg, Aoi Yamaguchi, Zoltron

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 27th 2010
show runs until Saturday, December 18th
Lopo Gallery
– 1141 Polk Street (entrance through Space Gallery)
San Francisco, CA 94109
6pm – 11pm
For more info, or to view Spoke Art’s blog and online store, please visit the website: http://www.spokeart.net/

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Retrospect: 還源 KANGEN -Reunited with Nature-

Art Shows, Calligraphy

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沈んでゆき、融合し、鼓動を聴き、呼吸をあわせる、共存のかたち。

Sinking, uniting, listening to the heartbeat and syncing your breathing with the Earth’s – that’s symbiosis.

力強く真っ直ぐのびる、紘子ちゃんの作品 “Symbiosis” by Hiroko Tsuchimoto

これを木の幹のように見立て、このいのちの巨塔の根元で、生命が果てて地とひとつになっては、あらたに生まれ変わります。

10PM: Live Performance

墨とわたし    Sumi-ink and myself

Mika

精神統一のための瞑想  Meditation.

空間にこだまする在音の音に包まれながら

Surrounded by Zaion’s sound echoing in the space, two of us are in quiet thoughts

いざ、動

move

薄弱な光明の中  …Within the dim ray of light

薄れていく意識と共に増していく  As consciousness gradually fades away

不確かな暗闇  Enveloped in hazy darkness

肌に染みていく熱  Feeling the warmth vividly on my skin

土の中へと沈んでいく  Sinking into the soil

深く、  Deeper,

…深く  …deeper.

大地とひとつになる United with the Earth…

果てなく、 Infinitely,

…果てなく  …infinitely.

大地 -Land-

次から、次へ、と  One, after, another.

Spiral of reincarnation

生命が生まれる場所から
生命が還っていく場所へ

From the place where a life is born
To the place where a life has returned

在音の雄大なOpusを締めくくる『大地讚頌』が響き渡るなか その生命はくるりくるりと舞い 私はそれを追うように最後の一節を書き刻む

Cantata “Dai-chi San-sho” resonates beautifully as the epilogue of this grand opus by Zaion

– As the “life” (Mika) spins around, I wrote the last sentence of the story, following its movement

新たないのちがそこで生まれる

“A place where new lives are born to witness the world”

Final signature..

“Thank you all for coming tonight.”

Greetings.

Japanese Calligraphy: Aoi Yamaguchi
Dance: Mika Yanagihara
Poetry Reading: Julianne Yates
Sound Design: Zaion
Videography: Martin Söderblom

>>VIEW MORE PHOTOS (Entire Process)

*

Exhibition of Calligraphy Works


Darkness



Warmth



Sink



Unite


Heartbeat



Breathing


Return


Origin



Life


還源

薄弱な光明の中
薄れて行く意識とともに増して行くのは
不確かな暗闇

穏やかな鼓動を聴きながら
薄れて行く光とともに鮮やかになっていくのは
肌に染みていく熱

土の中へと沈んで行く
深く、深く

大地とひとつになる
果てなく、果てなく

大地の鼓動を聴く
大地の鼓動と自分の鼓動をゆっくりと重ねる

大地の呼吸を聴く
大地の呼吸と自分の呼吸をゆっくりと合わせる

生命の生まれた源へ還っていく

それは退化や消滅ではなく
それは私たちが息づくところ

生命が生まれる場所から
生命が還っていく場所へ

新たないのちがそこで生まれる。

KANGEN
Reunited with Nature

Within the dim ray of light
As consciousness gradually fades away
Enveloped in hazy darkness

Hearing the heart calmly pulse
As the light grows dimmer and dimmer
Senses sharpen, feeling the warmth vividly on my skin

Sinking into the soil
Deeper, deeper

United with the Earth
Infinitely, infinitely

Listening to the Earth’s heart beating
Slowly syncing the Earth’s rhythm with mine

Listening to the Earth breathing
Syncing the Earth’s breathing with mine

Returning to the origin of life
A spiral of reincarnation

This is not decomposition or disappearance
This is where all lives rejuvenate

From the place where a life is born
To the place where a life has returned

A place where new lives are born to witness the world

_
Words by Aoi Yamaguchi & Hiroko Tsuchimoto
English Translation by Aoi Yamaguchi & Andrew Capistrano
*

ショーを見に来てくれたみなさん、ほんとうにどうもありがとう。
この空間を、瞬間を共有できた事を、嬉しく思います。会場でひとりひとりの顔を見れることが、どんなに私のこころを支え、ちからになっているか、もっとうまく伝えられたらいいのですが、伝わっているでしょうか?
「死から生へ」=「生命の源へ還っていく」という過程を表現するという、とても大きなテーマに取り組みました。
私一人では、もちろん実現できなかったことです。

最後の「生」は、私の名前「碧生」の一文字でもあります。
いのちの雄大さ、尊さを考えるとき、自然との繋がりは切り離せない。
その自然がわたしたちの生命の源であり、還っていく所なのだというこの螺旋を、書で表現したかった。
グレー色の柔らかい淡墨から、力強い黒へと、生命力がゆっくりと漲っていく過程をもグレースケールで表現しようと試みた。
荒々しく、ごつごつした暗闇から、土の中で潤っていき大地と融合していく肉体のイメージを、にじみの強さで表現しようとも試みた。
生命のある限り、表現し続けていきたい。
その瞬間瞬間の情熱を刻むべく、筆を握る。私の書の恩師の、
「最終的には、自分が美しいと思ったものを創っていくに尽きるんだよな」
と電話口での言葉を思い出しながら。書は私にとって、終わりなき自分との戦い。

ほんとうに美しいものを、信じるその心が美しいと私は思います。
自分の信じる最高の「美」を求めて、それを形にしていく。
ほんとうにそれしかないのだと思っています。

Again, please allow me to thank everyone who came to see the show.
I feel so grateful that I was able to share this beautiful moments in the same space with all of you. You have no idea how much I feel encouraged and empowered by just seeing the face of each of you at the venue – I am trying my best to address how much I appreciate your presence, I hope I’m doing good job on it…

For this exhibition and performance, I challenged on this large theme – the reincarnation of life: the process “from death to rebirth.”
Of course, I couldn’t make this happen without others’ help. – We can’t live by ourselves, we all support each other.

The last word that I wrote for my calligraphy piece was “生” (“Life”), which shares with my name’s kanji characters (碧生).
When we contemplate about the grandeur and preciousness of our lives, we can’t exclude the importance of nature as its resource.
I wanted to express the vision of the circle of life – the nature is where we are originated from, and where we return to.
I began writing with lighter gray sumi-ink, which is diluted with water, and gradually added more concentrated sumi-ink to increase the grayscale in order to express that life is gradually rejuvenating in those words. It was my attempt use the ink blur to embody the vision of dying human body in the rough darkness that slowly being moistened and united with the earth and under the soil.
As long as I’m alive, I’ll keep creating.
I hold my brushes to engrave the spur of my passion every moment.

Remembering my teacher, the calligraphy master’s word,
“Ultimately, you just gotta keep creating what you believe it’s beautiful.”
Calligraphy is endless internal battle with myself.

I strongly believe that beautiful heart sees the true beauty.
In pursuit of the supreme beauty, what your heart believes,
making your belief into a visible shape and its countless trial is the only thing we can do.
That’s the only thing we gotta do.
Only thing I gotta do.

Photo by Akko Tesasawa
_
Special Thanks to:
Akira Okawa, Nanako Yano, Chris Jordan, Mark Kohn, Julianne Yates, Brett Amory, Andrew Capistrano, Akiko, Satoru and Yuui Yamaguchi, Fivepoints Arthouse, Amemiya, and YOU.
_
All artworks are for sale. For art inquiries, please contact:
info@fivepointsarthouse.com

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還源 KANGEN -Reunited with Nature- on SF Weekly!

Art Shows, Calligraphy, Events

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今週金曜日にオープンの迫る、私の展示&パフォーマンスイベント、”還源 KANGEN -Reunited with Nature”がSF Weeklyのイベント欄に掲載されました。

The preview of my upcoming exhibition & live performance, “還源 KANGEN -Reunited with Nature-” was featured on SF Weekly’s event section.

NYCからダンサーのみかちゃんがSFに今日到着し、SFOで3月以来の再会を果たしました。そのあと私の行きつけのカフェにて、ひろこちゃんと3人でSkypeで国境を越えたオンラインミーティングをし、今後の予定もろもろを再確認。サンフランシスコは昼12時、ストックホルムは夜の10時。

Dancer Mika just arrived SF today, and this time, we are now reunited here in San Francisco since our first show in NYC. We had a international online meeting at a cafe at noon in SF, 10pm in Stockholm.

We are finalizing the plan for the show.  Please join us on the night of opening reception at Fivepoints Arthouse, located at 72 Tehama st (2nd + Tehama in SOMA) this Friday November 19th 7 – 2am.  We will start the performance when the venue is packed.  Darker colored clothing strongly recommended!

Photo in the article (SF Weekly) by: Tokio Kuniyoshi

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Upcoming: 還源 KANGEN -Reunited with Nature-: Calligraphy Exhibtion & Live Performance

Art Shows, Calligraphy, Events, Music

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還源   KANGEN

-Reunited with Nature-

Exhibition: November 19 – December 11, 2010
Opening Reception & Live Performance:  Friday November 19, 2010
7pm- 2am | $5 Suggested donation in support of our traveling artists

Artists:

Aoi Yamaguchi | Japanese Calligraphy Exhibition / Live Performance (Oakland)
Hiroko Tsuchimoto | Textile installation (Sweden)
Martin Söderblom | Film Projection (Sweden)
Mika Yanagihara | Contemporary Dance performance (New York)
Zaion | Music Producer (Tokyo)

Japanese artists now living in San Francisco, New York, and Sweden explore the theme of KANGEN -Reunited with Nature- through installation and live art performance in hopes to embody human distinctions celebrate the natural order of life.

On the night of the reception, KANGEN -Reunited with Nature- features a collaborative live performance by a Japanese calligrapher Aoi Yamaguchi, contemporary dancer Mika Yanagihara, textile artist Hiroko Tsuchimoto, video artist Martin Söderblom, and music producer Zaion.  Artists transcribe their visualization of reincarnation, “from rebirth to death,” through physical movement of live calligraphy and contemporary dance performance.

KANGEN -Reunited with Nature- is the second series of CHISEKI -Traces of Nature-, which was held in New York in March 2010, directed by Aoi Yamaguchi, Hiroko Tsuchimoto, and curated by Tokio Kuniyoshi.

Fivepoints Arthouse

72 Tehama, San Francisco, CA
415.989.1166
Website: www.fivepointsarthouse.com

Links:
Aoi Yamaguchi  http://www.glamourousmonochrome.com
Hiroko Tsuchimoto  http://www.hirokotsuchimoto.com/
Mika Yanagihara http://pnoworoldance.com/performers.html
Zaion http://zaionrecordings.com/

_

About Aoi Yamaguchi (yes it’s me..)

Born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan in 1984, Aoi Yamaguchi has been trained to master the basics of calligraphy by learning under the Master Zuiho Sato since at the age of 6, while refining her knowledge and skills.  She is a recipient of numerous awards including the First Place prize from the Minister of Education at 44th Asahi Calligraphy Nationwide School Exhibit, Superior First Place at 33rd National Students Calligraphy Exhibition and others that are known as the supreme prizes at competitive public exhibitions.  As a noteworthy event, she was nominated to participate in the group, 4th Hokkaido Elementary and Junior High Students Visit to China in 2000, representing the country of Japan and participated in calligraphy exchange sessions at Palace of Pupils of China. Her works show her exploration in juxtaposing the traditional Eastern classics and her contemporary artistic expressions, as well as her unique ambition of transforming two-dimensional art of Japanese Calligraphy into the art of physical expression through performances. Currently living in Oakland, she has been working on her unique calligraphy installation, exhibition, live performances, custom logo designs and art works internationally, as she pursues her career to preserve traditional arts with music in the modern world.

About Hiroko Tsuchimoto

Hiroko Tsuchimoto is an artist living in Stockholm. She works with different media, such as textile, video and even her body. A concept, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is always behind her works. Born in Sapporo, Japan in 1984. She graduated from Konstfack (Textile in the Expanded Field: MFA) this spring and now studies in Royal University College of Fine Arts (KKH) as a Guest Student.

About Mika Yanagihara

Mika Yanagihara has trained modern, ballet, jazz, contemporary since started her training by modern ballet when she was 2 years old.  In 1997-1998, she won scholarship at Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York.  Mika has a vast range of experience such as performing on television, musical, world expo, music video, and fashion. Since 2007, she has been directing total art entertainment “KAGUYA” which she founded in Japan and also teaching and choreographing for the past 9 years.  She is currently dancing with Diane McCarthy, Patricia Noworol Dance Company, and 277danceproject.

About Zaion

Born in Toyama, Japan, Zaion was raised with a classical music background, then he gravitated towards creating hip hop. Zaion is an avid traveler, he aims to mesh cultural textures with lush musical landscapes with his main tool: the MPC2000XL. His long-awaited debut album “Nomadic Journals” was released in December 2009. After his musical and cultural exploration in San Francisco for several years, he now lives and works in Tokyo.

We look forward to see you at the show!

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Retrospect: RAW Exhibit – “When Birds Disappeared from the Sky”

Art Shows, Calligraphy, Events

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My new calligraphy works, “When Birds Disappeard from the Sky”, were exhibited at RAW Gallery Exhibit in Oakland on August 6, 2010.  Paying homage to my favorite poet Shuntaro Tanikawa, who is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets internationally, I chose this beautiful poem for my new series of calligraphy pieces in hopes to bring the viewers an awareness about the relationships between humans and nature, and how the world is changing through the current stream of rapid civilization, industrialization, and modernization.

Each piece has one paragraph, and these five complete the whole poem. I used Tan-boku (淡墨: diluted sumi-ink) to soften the strokes, aiming to give the letters the feeling of lightness like feathers, and openness like a blue sky.

(Read from top right to left, vertically)

1  When Beasts Disappear from the Forest

2  When Fish Disappear from the Sea

3  When Children Disappear from Town

4  When Humanity Lost Oneself

5  When Birds Disappear from the Sky

When Birds disappeared from the Sky

On the day the Beasts disappeared from the Forest

The Forest held its breath

On the day the Beasts disappeared from the Forest

Humans continued building roads

On the day Fish disappeared from the Sea

The Sea hollowly groaned

On the day Fish disappeared from the Sea

Humans continued building ports

On the day Children disappeared from Town

The Town bustled with even more activity

On the day Children disappeared from Town

Humans continued building parks

On the day Humanity lost Oneself

All Humans were alike one another

On the day Humans lost Personality

Humans continued to believe in the future

On the day Birds disappeared from the Sky

The Sky quietly cried

On a day Birds disappeared from the Sky

Humans continued singing, Unaware

Poem by Shuntaro Tanikawa (1974), Shuei-Sha Publishing (1974)

What’s ironic is that Shuntaro Tanikawa wrote this poem in 1974 – 34 years ago -…  we all know enough about the ignorance of humans, and we all know what is going to happen if we continue what we’re doing.  As we seek better life, the more convenient our life become, the less sensitive our sense of reality become… we all know, but we can’t help it because it creates new standard of culture, lifestyle, and the society – Something “new” becomes something “normal”. Then we move on to look for something “new” again, and then it naturally leads to further development, innovation, construction, destruction, reconstruction… infinite loop.  At least, I want to be close to the nature, which is the origin of our lives and the world we live in, by appreciating its beauty and importance through my own medium Japanese calligraphy.

Installation done!

Around 8:30pm.

w/ the curator Carly Ivan Garcia. Thank you Carly for your hard work!

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Upcoming: New Calligraphy Works at Group Exhibition “R.A.W.” Friday Aug 6 2010

Art Shows, Calligraphy, Events

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今週金曜日、Uptownで毎月開催されているグループショー、”RAW”に参加します。
展示作品は、今回新しく制作した現代書道作品5点。
今回は、大きな書道画仙紙全紙サイズのものを含む、5ピースで、(私の作品を良く知るあなたならお馴染みの)谷川俊太郎さんの詩を完成するというプロジェクトで制作しました。
「空に小鳥がいなくなった日」
私の大好きな詩です。

キュレーターは、オークランド在住のCarly Ivan Garcia。ニューヨークでも展示で活躍のみられるペインターです。
毎月第一金曜日にオークランドのダウンタウンで開催されている、アートウォーク”Oakland Art Murmur”の一環で一夜限りのショーです。Carlyは今回のショーの参加アーティストの面々に興奮を隠せない様子です。私も、このベイエリアを拠点とし活動するアーティストの中に作品を並べる事ができ、なんとも光栄です。。しかも以前Guerilla Cafeでショーをしたことから知っているKeba Conteがフィーチャーのショー。更に、友人であり、今うなぎ上りのアーティストBrettも参加しています。
ぜひぜひ、遊びにきてください!

*

This Friday, August 6th, I’m participating in a group art exhibition “RAW”, which is a monthly one-night art exhibition at Uptown, curated by Carly Ivan Garcia.

I’ll exhibit five new contemporary calligraphy works, paying homage to the respected Japanese poet Shuntaro Tanikawa. Yes, he is my favorite poet at all times – for my new project, I have made five calligraphy pieces, paragraph by paragraph, that completes “When Birds Disappeared from the Sky” (1974).  As I did many years ago, you will fall in love with his world of poetry.

Please come by, and step into the contemporary art scene in Oakland!

RAW 08.06.10

presented by THE UPTOWN
Friday August 6, 2010 | 6-9pm
Oakland Art Murmur
Curated by Carly Ivan Garcia

Featured Artist: Keba Armand Konte

Participating artists:
Armo
Brett Amory
Agne Correll
Ali Garcia
Emily Johnson
Amanda Lynn
Dawood Marion
Michael Orange
Aoi Yamaguchi

Guest Dj Satva
Dj Sonny Phono
Complimentary Libations

Afterparty at 2022 Bar & Lounge!

For more details, CLICK HERE

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Upcoming: Live painting @Ritmos Sin Fronteras feat. Ge-Ology!

Art Shows, Events, Music

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今週土曜日、SOMでライブペイントします。

UPCOMING LIVE ART PERFORMANCE:

Saturday July 10th
RITMOS SIN FRONTERAS
featuring
Ge-Ology (NYC)

Live Art by
Aoi x Noa-

(Photos from recent show – credit: Keiko Photography)

Check out Noa- (Yasushi Matsui) on Washington Post *Just posted!*

Food provided by
Adobo Hobo (Giving the Colonel a run for his $$!)
&
Evil Jerk Cart (Devilishly good Jerk Chicken!)
@ SOM. 2925 16th ST. – SF
10:30pm-3am | 21+ | $5 ALL NIGHT LONG

For more info: CLICK HERE!

Special thanks to: Hakobo!

SOM http://som-bar.com/
Ge-Ology http://www.myspace.com/geologymusic
Aoi Yamaguchi http://www.glamourousmonochrome.com
Noa- http://www.followyourline.com/

♫ Blues Alley / Ge-ology Feat. Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon)

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Retrospect: Live painting @Shing02+Emi Meyer+Zaion Live SF

Art Shows, Calligraphy, Music

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In retrospect:

I couldn’t sleep the night before of this show because of the excitement.  Knowing that Zaion is going away for his journey, I was so emotionally involved in this show – I was so glad that I was able to make this show happen.  Shing02, a genius MC (I’d like to call him a poet rather than MC…) who I respect since high school; Emi Meyer, a beautiful young Jazz singer who I believe that she was born with her talent, and world wonderer / beat maker Zaion, whose dynamic sound always is in tune with my internal rhythm… my favorite artists from the Bay Area reunited once again here in SF.

Woke up in the morning, and my mind was so clear.

Dj Yusai

Blank canvas.

Noa- starts off.

I wrote Shing02’s song lyrics in Japanese calligraphy

The lyrics I chose were from “栞 (bookmarks)” / “Black is Beautiful” / “Luv (sic)”

Layers of poetry.

To me, music and calligraphy art are inseparable.  Music inspires me, stirs up my creativity and and motivates me to write poems.  Words fall into my mind so naturally from above the clouds…

Zaion

Orukusaki x Zaion

Emi Meyer

Emi forgot to bring a power cord for her keyboard from LA… so she played Zaion’s Nord.  Shining in bright red, it even looked cute and nice with her on the stage.

Shing02

Jam session by Eric, Zaion, Beatropolis

It was 2 days before my birthday – there’s nothing more beautiful birthday gift than this show. Really good turn out for Tuesday, and seeing lots of friends’ smiles on this night blew all the worries (from last-minute booking, promotion and planning…) away.  I’m so grateful to be able to work with artists + friends who I love and respect, and I know deep in my heart that this passion for music and art keeps me alive.   Thank you all who came out to the show, bringing us the great vibes!

Keep pursuing what you believe in.

With the Golden Gate Bridge..

VIEW PHOTOS on FLICKR

Photos by Keiko Moriyama

Zaion just departed for a 2-month long trip to South America. Bon voyage!

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Retrospect: Livepainting @Quadron Show

Art Shows, Music

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Friday June 11, 2010  Aoi x Noa- Live painting

The spotlight of the night was Quadron from Denmark –  debut live at Mozaic Lounge in SJ. Noa- and I started to paint around 8:30pm in the outdoor lounge area of Mozaic.

DONE.

Coco of Quadron signed on our canvas! (On the right, “QUADRON”)

HOPE.

Inside of the Mozaic Lounge, Coco of Quadron was singing live with bassist and percussionist. I totally missed their performance since we were painting outside, but I was able to hear her voice, stealing audiences’ heart.

Coco singing… such a pretty voice.

AOI / COCO O Malaika/ NOA- / ROBIN Hannibal

Now I know who to call when I visit Denmark… Thanks Quadron!

Photos by Mark Chua & Yutaro Sawahara

More Photos…

*If you are interested in purchasing the painting, please contact aoi@glamourousmonochrome.com.

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