Past Rowan Morrison artists in Super Awesome at Oakland Museum of California

Thursday marked the opening of a wonderful new show at Oakland Museum titled Super Awesome: Art and Giant Robot. Pete and I had the privilege of attending the donor reception, giving us a first-look at the work in the show, and a chance to meet some Giant Robot artists we haven't met before. This show has special significance to us because our dear friends, Ako Castuera and Rob Sato, were each given one of the coveted fourteen spots. More important, however, was that the artists were given free-reign to see a vision through from start to finish. Much of the work in this show is site specific. We have known Rob and Ako since our college days at CCAC in the late 90's. When Rowan Morrison had exhibitions (between 2005 and 2011), Ako and Rob were often participants–Ako had a solo show, and a two-person show (with myself), and Rob had a solo show here. So it thrills us to pieces that these two remarkable artists have been given a platform here in Oakland again. To top this (which is a major achievement in its own right) both artists created entirely new work for the exhibit. And the work is exceptional... and it must be seen in person. I will say though, that one of the things that I noticed this time was the progress between the two artists–each whose respective process is independent from one another, yet thematically, and often visually in tune with one another. There's a dialogue going on. And to look at this show is to have a window into an intimate, almost private conversation filled with creativity, wonder and awe. Another friend (and past Rowan Morrison artist) in Super Awesome is Bay Area artist Deth P. Sun. Syntactically consistent with much of his work and exhibitions, Deth's portion features dozens of small-scale acrylic works on panel. The hundred-plus pictures are tiled in a diamond-shaped grid, which allows for a narrative play to take place between Deth's recurring themes of cats, adventure, and simple, day-to-day observations (like a fruit bowl or an ice-cream cone). In 2008 we co-published a book of his work titled I See It All, and released the book with an accompanying solo show at Rowan Morrison Gallery. There are still a few copies of I See It All available for $20 each. Also included in Super Awesome David Choe, who has a large mural at the rear portion of the galleries. David and Pete were collaborative partners in Scion's Easy Ten film series, which was also part of the Installation 5 touring exhibition. Their project is called 23 Short Films and you can see clips here on YouTube. Although they hardly do the work justice, here are my snapshots of some of the work in Super Awesome: Art and Giant Robot at the Oakland Museum of California: [caption id="attachment_700" align="alignnone" width="600"] Ceramic Sculpture/Installation by Ako Castuera[/caption] [caption id="attachment_706" align="alignnone" width="768"] Ceramic Sculpture by Ako Castuera[/caption] [caption id="attachment_701" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Detail of Ceramic Sculpture/Installation by Ako Castuera[/caption] [caption id="attachment_704" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Large Scale Watercolor Paintings by Rob Sato[/caption] [caption id="attachment_703" align="alignnone" width="768"] Detail of one of the Large Scale Watercolor Paintings by Rob Sato[/caption] [caption id="attachment_702" align="alignnone" width="768"] Detail of one of the Large Scale Watercolor Paintings by Rob Sato[/caption] [caption id="attachment_707" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Installation View of Rob Sato paintings and Ako Castuera Sculptures in Super Awesome at Oakland Museum of California[/caption] [caption id="attachment_705" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Installation View of Deth P Sun's work in Super Awesome at Oakland Museum of California[/caption] Super Awesome: Art and Giant Robot runs from April 16th through July 27th, 2014 Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street, Oakland, CA 94607 http://museumca.org/ Artists: Ako Castuera, Sean Chao, David Choe, Luke Chueh, Hamburger Eyes, Andrew Hem, James Jean, kozyndan, Masakatsu Sashie, Shizu Saldamando, Rob Sato, Amy Sol, Deth P Sun, and Adrian Tomine. [caption id="attachment_726" align="alignnone" width="474"] Deth P. Sun in front of David Choe's Mural[/caption]