OAKLAND — Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of groundbreaking alternative art and culture magazine Giant Robot, Oakland Museum of California features the major exhibition “SuperAwesome: Art and Giant Robot,” featuring works by 15 contemporary artists who have been a part of the magazine’s social and cultural evolution.
The exhibition opened April 19 and closes July 27.
Co-curated by Giant Robot visionary Eric Nakamura and OMCA Associate Curator of Art & Material Culture Carin Adams, “SuperAwesome” presents new or recent works by California and international-based artists affiliated with the influential magazine that brought Asian, trans-Pacific popular culture to mainstream audiences in the United States.
Artworks in the exhibition represent a range of mediums, including mural art, sculpture, illustration, portraiture, large-scale installations, graphic novels, photography, and more. Featured artists include:
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
Adrian Tomine
Over the past 20 years, the Giant Robot brand has expanded to include retail stores and galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York, a restaurant, museum and gallery exhibitions, and a popular website. It has also become an important outlet for a generation of emerging artists, several of whom have achieved mainstream success —such as Adrian Tomine, whose work has graced many New Yorker covers, and James Jean, whose is best known for his work for Prada, ESPN, and Atlantic Records.
“SuperAwesome” connects to OMCA’s other spring exhibition, “Vinyl: The Sound and Culture of Records,” through programs and in-gallery experiences celebrating how a range of communities comes together to create shared popular culture.
“SuperAwesome” is made possible in part by generous support from Deluxe Corporation Foundation.
OMCA is located at 1000 Oak St. in Oakland. Hours are Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission is $15 general, $10 for seniors and students with current ID, $6 for youth, ages 9 to 17, and free for children 8 and under and OMCA members.
For more information, visit http://museumca.org/.