In Guided Growth, Misako Inaoka revamps Johansson Projects into a zoological garden run wild, existing in a strange parallel world that we are perhaps too familiar with. Inaoka’s work echoes the alchemy of food processing by cross-breeding high art and toys, flirting with the familiarity of kitsch. Show open September 17- November 6.
Ceramic fawns with surveillance cameras for heads and a moose with ears-turned-bicycle-handlebars frolic in a wonderland impossibly sweet with an unsettling aftertaste. Inaoka’s serious play addresses issues of cloning, bioengineering, alternative energy in pint-sized figurines suited for text books or toy chests.
Inaoka, born in Kyoto, Japan, had received BFA in printmaking ’01 from RISD (Rhode School of Design), and MFA ’06 from Mills College, CA. From 1999-2000, Inaoka spent a year in Rome, Italy, as a part of EHP (European Honors Program). She works with mixed media in sculpture and site-specific installation. Her work has been shown at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, de Young Museum, de Saisset Museum, San Jose ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), as well as galleries in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Texas, in Japan, England, China and Italy. She is a recipient of Irvine Fellowship for Montalvo residency, National Endowment of Arts for MacDowell Colony residency, and has been an artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Art, de Young Museum, and Vermont Studio Center.
Johansson Projects is contemporary art gallery that functions as a curatorial laboratory, creating exhibitions that pair established and internationally-recognized artists with up-and-coming locals. Its unique architecture allows for innovative exhibitions, prompting viewers to actively engage with artists who explore the delicate mysteries embedded in modernity often using unorthodox materials and methods. Johansson Projects was voted best gallery in 2008 and 2009 and is a locus for curators, collectors, and artists to connect and engage in dialogue with the larger art community both regionally and nationally.
Show runs September 17- November 6
Opening Reception October 1, 5-8pm
Johansson Projects
2300 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland CA 94612
510.444.9140
Kimberly Johansson
