I went to Kekkojin Milk Hall on the weekend to see Satou Rei’s exhibition, “かわいい！ sugar, sugar, petit paix…” (top picture) I suppose you can’t really see it in this particular picture, but most of the drawings still had the fresh-out-of-the-notebook/frayed edges look that’s influenced by Daniel Johnston’s torn notebook style. Rei’s drawings are always nice to see, as they are a mixture of cute, funny, and strange. I still smile to myself whenever I think of her image of a hand coming out of cloud with the words “god hand” underneath. I suppose that’s the real meaning of life, isn’t it? Mother Nature/God/Buddha/Force/whatever is floating in the universe and then one day decides to stick his or her hands through the atmosphere & clouds, touching Earth. As for the cafe where the exhibition was held, the cheesecake and coffee there was so delicious, and the atmosphere is very cute and lovely, too — full of old magazines, zines, and so on. Heartily recommended.
Since Rei made of portrait of me (with Rilakkuma, my favorite bear), I tried to make a portrait of Rei. (second picture) I hope I didn’t embarrass her too much. I didn’t like what I came up with at Kekkojin, so I re-did it when I went back home.
**
In other news, I have been getting lots of wonderful things in the mail recently. Today’s lovely treat came from a place near Pampa Safari, where the capybaras roam. DVDs, magazines, books, a scarf/belt, a red beret, and alfajor!! Glutton that I am, of course I smashed the alfajor in my mouth immediately upon discovering them, eating all three in quick succession, and of course I didn’t feel guilty at all but felt rather pleased and smitten with deliciousness. The beret is an Argentinian beret, though I feel a bit like Madeline wearing it. I guess Madeline never wore a red beret, though, did she?
Another lovely package I got in the mail came from comic wunderkind José-Luis Olivares. I may have mentioned him here on this blog before. He and I made a little book together when we were both in Japan last year – No Inaka. Now he’s at the Center for Cartoon Studies, and he so kindly sent me a recent comic he made – End of Eros. It’s really, truly good, and reminds me a bit of Takashi Nemoto’s work.
You can read and/or buy the comic at José-Luis’s website & blog.
