The Launch of "THIS IS NOT A TOY" @ Design Exchange, Canada (Feb 7 - May 19.2014)
And while the above video promo for events' Kickstarter is since over, the message remains an interesting perspective from folks not necessarily living and directly living with/in the art toy culture right now … it's like, folks who ask you "WHAT IS IT YOU COLLECT?" And this exhibition aims to showcase that to folks, and beyond, providing the history and heritage to essentially the pieces of plastic we collect / hoard / own.
"THIS IS NOT A TOY" is an Exhibition of Contemporary Art + Collectible Design, celebrating the World's First Large-Scale Exhibition Dedicated to Designer Toys at the Design Exchange, Canada.
Launched February 7th and exhibiting thru May 19th, 2014, guest curator Pharrell Williams shares with folks collectible sculptures, figures and paintings from familiar names such as KAWS, Takashi Murakami, Huck Gee, Friends With You, whose works are now on display in a museum setting. The exhibition images posted here brings utter delight to my toy-loving heart, and I can only wish I could be there personally :)
This is a ticketed exhibition, and you an purchase admission tickets for This Is Not A Toy here. See more images posted on my Facebook, along with much more event information.
EVENT PRESS: "With its origins in 80s and 90s graffiti culture, the small release toy is an underground art form that at once represents rebellion and playfulness. At the same time a product of consumer culture and a defensible piece of art, these works both reject and appropriate familiar consumer imagery, and manipulate household names, cartoons and cultural icons. The result is a powerful one, shifting control from brand to artist and finally, to consumer. Some artists manipulate and leverage familiar visual communication as tribute or provocation, while others create their own original forms, characters and worlds to convey their ideas of a more affected existence."
