bear in mind 4 @ studio h2o, milano (april 4-6)

"BEAR IN MIND, which means "Bear in Mind" as well as "to remember," is an ambitious project hatched by Rieko Hagiwara in the winter of 2006 in Milan, Italy. The aim is to create a community where creative people can come together and express themselves by customizing Styrofoam bears and other toys."

and this year, the Fourth Edition of Bear In Mind is back for a 3-day exhibition @ Studio H2O (from April 4-6th) featuring not only only 50 styrofoam bears customized by 50 different artists, but also the inclusion of 15 custom-bears from Kustom Kulture-artists, as well as 20 custom Labbits from Atomic Plastic, and more! - CLICK HERE FOR FULL PRESS RELEASE


"Why a bear? Because a bear is a worldwide cultural icon. The bear can
be the "dark" protagonist of adults’ and children’s dreams and fantasies."
Bear in Mind 4
The bears are back!

It is time for "Bear in Mind 4," a group show of custom urban toys with bears and other creatures, all of which have been creatively modified. The event will continue for 3 days; April 4 - 6, 2008 at Studio H2O.

For several years now, the international art movement has linked toys and artists in the counterculture phenomenon which originates from "Lowbrow," better known as "Pop Surrealism." Lowbrow is the art movement that arose in the 1960s in California. It had a variety of influences from underground comics, tattoo art, Kustom Kulture, Punk, and the surfing culture of the West Coast. The term Lowbrow, coined in 1979 by Robert Williams, the founder of "Juxtapoz" magazine, is the opposite of "highbrow" or "elite culture". Lowbrow artists prefer to use non conventional mediums for their works.

Among these are "toys" which are considered immediate and simple expression. Toys are a universal language that enable us to encounter and interact among people who have different culture backgrounds and sensibilities.

Bear in Mind, which means "Bear in Mind" as well as "to remember," is an ambitious project hatched by Rieko Hagiwara in the winter of 2006 in Milan, Italy. The aim is to create a community where creative people can come together and express themselves by customizing Styrofoam bears and other toys.

Why a bear? Because a bear is a worldwide cultural icon. The bear can be the "dark" protagonist of adults’ and children’s dreams and fantasies.

Bear in Mind is in fact the opportunity which permits creators, visionaries, professionals and non-professionals to personalize fantastic Styrofoam bears and violate their sacred character. Each artist is free to play an ambiguous and unexpected game.

For the 4th edition there will be forty new works. For this exhibit, Bear in Mind has also formed a collaboration with "Custom Sickles" and 20 artists from "Kustom Kulture" will exhibit their custom bears with the photos of Wild Rico, the photographer of WILD magazine. Further news is the presentation of vinyl rabbits, "Labbits", designed by the American artist Frank Kozik who collaborates as graphic artist with bands like Sonic Youth, Beck, Green Day etc. Along with the
collaboration of Atom Plastic they will present 20 custom Labbits by various artists.

LIVE-CUSTOM EVENT:
Anteprima April 3 from 5-8 pm @ Eastpak store, Corso di Porta ticinese 46, Milano.

- With the collaboration of Eastpak, LIVE CUSTOM SHOW with Aliceandthecat, BLASTER, El Gato Chimney, three artists from Bear in Mind will customize ’live’ Eastpak gears.

Artists:
3VOR / AcidNoise / ALICEANDTHECAT / ArteVettoriale / Bambi & Pasticcino / BLASTER / Broken Flower / CRISTIAN CRUZ CUSTOM DESIGN / Daisuke Yokota / DANX di Chiara / DIAVù / dolceQ / DR.PEPPER / El Cheapo / EL GATO CHIMNEY / Empire 32 EnriCo / Explo / Fingerprints / Fiorino Sposato / Flame / FLYCAT / Giampo Coppa / GianPaolo Stranci / Giovanni Gabriele Moro / GRETAETA / Izumi Fujiwara / JULIO ROBERTS / Kazumi Kurihara / Kika Bohr / KUSTOM DRINK / PAINT / Lady Tiz & MISTERICO / Lorenzo Zavoli / LUZE / M&KMAKOTO / MAKOTO / Mami Kawai Marco Melissari Martino Lang / Massimo Giacon / Massy Zeta / Mirella Iacovangelo / miss.gummo / MISSSUKA SISTER / Monica Gorza / NAMGIA NEKUIA / Nicoletta De Biasi / Nivaldo Silva Brandao / NobodyIndustry / OMER / ORSOSEDUTO / PACIFICI PAOLINPAOLON / Publia Cruciani / Romano Brida / Rosy Cerrigone / SANTY / Satoru Kawano / SEACREATIVE / SENSO / Shanti Ranchetti / Simona Coppa / Simona Steffenino / Stefania Gabellini / Steve Fable / Studio H2O / THE ARCH VILLAIN / Thomas Ray Veronique Dalschaert / Vincent Dalschaert / ZUMA INK

(*note: apologies if the names maay be mixed-up. do feel free to correct my error and also to leave behind your website URLs, if you are in this list, thanks for your patience!)

Bear In Mind 4
Opening reception April 4th. 2008 from 20:00
Exhibition from April 5th to 6th, 2008
Opening hour:15:00-19:00
c/o STUDIO H2O
via Arcivescovo Romilli 29
20139 Milano
tel 02 5693656
www.studio-h2o.it

Anteprima:LIVE Custom Show
April 3, 2008 from 17 till 20
c/o Eastpak store
Corso di Pta Ticinese 46
Milano

Info and organization:
Rieko Hagiwara
pinkpower66 [at] yahoo [dot] com
Cell: 328.91.61.832
www.bear-inmind.org
Associazione Culturale Veicoli Storici "CUSTOM SICKLES"
www.customsickles.com

With the collaboration of Studio H2O, Zodiac italia, Atom Plastic, Eastpak, Maimeri, Robotron Radio.