We’re thrilled to share that our virtual tour through Ermsy ‘s Took It Easy, Lauren Hana Chai’s The Little Death, and group exhibition Mother Earth: We Are All One at Thinkspace Projects. is now available.
Visit https://players.cupix.com/p/muHfYTqc for either a self-guided tour experience.
Tour Created by Birdman
A photo tour through Ermsy ‘s Took It Easy, Lauren Hana Chai’s The Little Death, and group exhibition Mother Earth: We Are All One at Thinkspace Projects.
Photography by Birdman
Thinkspace is pleased to present Ermsy’s ‘Took It Easy,’ Lauren Hana Chai’s ‘The Little Death,’ and Group Exhibition ‘Mother Earth: We Are All One’
Ermsy ‘Took It Easy’
English, Paris-based illustrator and artist Ermsy takes the popular cartoons of his childhood and reimagines them as irreverent appropriations. Fascinated by American pop culture as a readily accessible, visual vernacular, Ermsy’s take on its beloved illustrated characters is both satirical and participatory. These adult-themed bastardizations of Garfield, Loony Tunes, The Simpsons, and the like, are simultaneously elated and anarchic in their absurd display of debauchery like tendencies.
Using familiar characters provides Ermsy with a set of pre-established imaginative boundaries within which to work. Like a hot-boxed descent into an alternate universe of nostalgic psychotropic Saturday morning cartoons, his world is a playful subversion of familiar, pop-cultural fodder.
Lauren Hana Chai’s ‘The Little Death’
Lauren Hana Chai was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii being the first of her family to be born in the United States. Raised by her grandparents who are from South Korea, she grew up with dual cultures: Very traditional with a Korean lifestyle at home, while at the same time being immersed in the western world outside. In 2010, Lauren moved to San Francisco to attend the Academy of Art University and graduated in 2015 with her BFA in painting.
Lauren uses unconventional mediums with mixed media as well as working with her first love, oils. The mixed media brings together different elements which is a reflection of her identity. She paints issues such as taboo, the Korean cultural trait han, history, the clash of traditional and modern, east and west, and the struggle for balance in between.
Mother Earth ‘We Are All One’: 60+ Artist Group Exhibition
We’re proud to share that our family of creatives are coming together for a very special group show, that will help shine a light on topics currently at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts.
“Mother Earth: We Are All One” will bring together 50+ artists, all of whom have been asked to work within the same space confines of 12×12 inches (30×30 cm) and to take into consideration the general state of our Mother Earth and how much we have scarred her for our own gain and how many specifies of animals have gone extinct due to our constant advancement and taking over of lands near and far. We’ve asked them all to also consider how the current pandemic has so clearly illustrated that we are all in this together, and when we work together as one, anything is possible. To single out any one person due to their race, religion or sexual orientation is an archaic way of thinking that needs to be abolished. Fundamentalist extremism has been rearing its ugly head all around the world over the last couple years, and it needs to be stopped.
A portion of the proceeds from this special exhibition will be donated to our longtime partners at Born Free USA to help them in their goals of ensuring that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs.
A portion of the proceeds will also be donated to the NAACP in the name of Ahmaud Arbery.
Online Schedule of Virtual Events:
Saturday, June 27 from 1-2 PM pacific time we will go live on our Instagram to tour our new exhibition
Sunday, June 28 at 2 pm pacific time we will post a full set of installation photos from both exhibitions to our Facebook and blog
Monday, June 29 at 4 pm pacific time we will share a link to the self-guided virtual tour of our new exhibitions on all of our social networks
Video by Birdman
Thinkspace is pleased to present ‘Took It Easy,’ from English, Paris-based illustrator and artist Ermsy. Fascinated by American pop culture as a readily accessible, visual vernacular, Ermsy’s take on its beloved illustrated characters is both satirical and participatory.
The use of familiar characters provides Ermsy with a set of pre-established imaginative boundaries within which to work. Like a hot-boxed descent into an alternate universe of nostalgic psychotropic Saturday morning cartoons, his world is a playful subversion of familiar, pop cultural fodder.
In anticipation of ‘Took It Easy,’ our interview with Ermsy covers the controversial topic Nike or Puma, detox, and that pandemic life.
SH: For those not familiar with your work, can you tell us a little bit about your background?
ERMSY: I’m an artist / painter / illustrator / maker, and I live in Paris, France. I had a formal education in graphic design and did graffiti art for a long time since my early teenage years.
SH: What is the inspiration behind this latest body of work?
ERMSY: My inspiration came from everyday life, social media, comic books, the art world, and just about anywhere. I just like making images that I think look interesting. Mixing ideas, styles, and character universes. During the lockdown, I suddenly had a good amount of time to get into making the work for the show. It was a very creative period for me.
SH: What was the most challenging piece in the exhibition and why?
ERMSY: Probably the Turtles piece, which took the longest and needed careful planning.
SH: What is your most and least favorite part of the creative process?
ERMSY: I like all parts of the creative process! If I’m working for myself just to make a random piece, it’s a pleasure from start to finish. I get a big kick out of that.
SH: Who are some of your creative influences?
ERMSY: I would say right now, Marvel Comics, particularly Gold, Silver, and Bronze Age. I’ve also been getting into prewar American comics which have some incredible art and ideas in them, but stay in obscurity.
SH: Your work includes a lot of pop culture icons. What were some of your favorite cartoons growing up? Did you have a childhood hero?
ERMSY: My work is definitely a reflection of the kind of pop culture that was around when I was growing up. My personal heroes changed from one month to the next, there was so much to discover then and many marketing trends came and went quite quickly. I didn’t have a whole lot of ‘stuff’ growing up so anything I could find, I’d hold onto tightly. I hoarded comics and toys. I was a huge Star Wars fan and still love the original films, but it feels a bit hollowed out nowadays.
SH: Nike or Puma? What’s your favorite and why?
ERMSY: Nike every time.
SH: What is the most rewarding moment thus far in your art career?
ERMSY: Hard to say, there’s been a lot of cool moments so far. I released some prints with Bart trapped in an ice cube a few years ago, which sold out in hours. That was a good feeling, and made me think I was on the right path and making a living out of it was possible.
SH: If this body of work inspired a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream flavor, what would be the name and the ingredients of this sweet treat?
ERMSY: I’d call it “Sugar is a Hell of a Drug”
The ingredients would be Haribo and Crystal Meth. I’ve tried to quit sugar this year for the most part, and it’s no joke. Harder than quitting smoking I’d say!
SH: We are in the middle of a global pandemic, it’s an unprecedented time, and it’s a weird time – What is your approach to life during this time?
ERMSY: In the beginning I was fascinated by what was happening. I was following daily death tolls and I’d consumed too much media which was telling us that it would be much much worse! There was a really gloomy mood and the streets were almost empty. It was bizarre to say the least. The supermarkets were being picked dry and there was an atmosphere of fear! It felt like a glimpse of the apocalypse, luckily that wasn’t the case.
In Paris we’re coming to the end of the lockdown. The restaurants and parks are open again and life feels almost back to normal. I carry on as normal and stay optimistic.
SH: Are you sticking to routines, or making it up as we go? What does quarantine life look like for you?
ERMSY: Quarantine life isn’t much different from normal life for me! I spend a good amount of time in my studio every day, working on various projects simultaneously.
SH: Favorite thing you’ve watched, listened to, and ate in the last 30 days? Or since days don’t matter anymore, since the “shelter-in-place” orders came down.
ERMSY: I watch and listen to a lot of Youtube while I’m working. I like the Ancient Architects channel or Shaun Attwood’s True Crime podcast which has some interesting characters on it.
Another good thing I’ve discovered was NPR Tiny Music Desk channel on Youtube. I’ve been working through those and finding out about some amazing artists
Online Schedule of Virtual Events:
Saturday, June 27 at 12:00 noon pacific time we will post the professionally shot video tour of our new exhibitions to our Instagram TV
Saturday, June 27 from 1-2 PM pacific time we will go live on our Instagram to tour our new exhibitions
Sunday, June 28 at 2 pm pacific time we will post a full set of installation photos from both exhibitions to our Facebook and blog
Monday, June 29 at 4 pm pacific time we will share a link to the self-guided virtual tour of our new exhibitions on all of our social networks
ERMSY
Took It Easy
On view June 27 – July 18
Collector Preview will be shared on June 22
English, Paris-based illustrator and artist Ermsy takes the popular cartoons of his childhood and reimagines them as irreverent appropriations. Fascinated by American pop culture as a readily accessible, visual vernacular, Ermsy’s take on its beloved illustrated characters is both satirical and participatory. These adult-themed bastardizations of Garfield, Loony Tunes, The Simpsons, and the like, are simultaneously elated and anarchic in their absurd display of debauchery like tendencies.
Using familiar characters provides Ermsy with a set of pre-established imaginative boundaries within which to work. Like a hot-boxed descent into an alternate universe of nostalgic psychotropic Saturday morning cartoons, his world is a playful subversion of familiar, pop cultural fodder. “I love pop culture,” Ermsy explains, “and I love exploring it.” His graphic exploration of pop culture uses popular cartoons in the same way that graffiti writers use letters. “Using well-known characters provides me with a base point, a frame to work within,” he explains. “With graffiti, the idea is to pick some letters from the alphabet, then go crazy with them or do whatever you want. Everybody starts with the same base point, and that’s graffiti. My starting point is to use characters in my artwork.”
LAUREN HANA CHAI
The Little Death
On view June 27 – July 18
Collector Preview will be shared on Monday, June 22
Lauren Hana Chai was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii being the first of her family to be born in the United States. Raised by her grandparents who are from South Korea, she grew up with dual cultures: Very traditional with a Korean lifestyle at home, while at the same time being immersed in the western world outside. In 2010, Lauren moved to San Francisco to attend the Academy of Art University and graduated in 2015 with her BFA in painting. Lauren uses unconventional mediums with mixed media as well as working with her first love, oils. The mixed media brings together different elements which is a reflection of her identity. She paints issues such as taboo, the Korean cultural trait han, history, the clash of traditional and modern, east and west, and the struggle for balance in between. Lauren adds: “The Little Death is a play between sex and death, the desire to live forever but also the inevitable return of our bodies to nature. I was raised by my grandparents and as they are now near death, they talk about leaving this world all the time. When I think about their death, I think about the entirety of their lives, how they lived it, what actions and decisions they did or did not make. I also see their different emotional reactions to it, my grandma: ready to face death and leave this earth, my grandpa: absolutely terrified but does not want to admit it. I reflect on how I want to live my life and how I want to face death in the end through this series with most of my models being people I know or myself. The different stages of decomposition of the bodies are portrayed as an abstract beautiful mess rather than something to be disgusted or fearful of. The symbols I paint frequently, such as the Korean peach and sacred fungus, are tied to symbols of longevity in Korean classical folk paintings. Back then, these paintings were accessible only to the high class but I paint these symbols today for everyone to enjoy, and I truly feel that I am giving my blessings to the person I am painting. More than just an image, it is an energy. The sacred fungus in particular was highly sought after and emperors would send out troops to look for it in the Korean mountains. It was truly believed to give one eternal youth. Today we take psychedelics as a way to transcend our shared human fate. Procreating is also a temporary transcendence of death and ultimately transcending it in the future as well by passing on DNA. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of death, but there is an invisible thread that links us to our past and connects us to our fellow humans and the rest of nature. This thought alone helps me see my little death as a part of the bigger universe and I feel a little less scared.”
Mother Earth: We Are All One
On view June 27 – July 18
Collector preview will be shared on Monday, June 22
We’re proud to share that our family of creatives are coming together for a very special group show, that will help shine a light on topics currently at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts.
Mother Earth: We Are All One will bring together 63 artists, all of whom have been asked to work within the same space confines of 12×12 inches (30×30 cm) and to take into consideration the general state of our Mother Earth and how much we have scarred her for our own gain and how many specifies of animals have gone extinct due to our constant advancement and taking over of lands near and far.
We’ve asked them all to also consider how the current pandemic has so clearly illustrated that we are all in this together, and when we work together as one, anything is possible. To single out any one person due to their race, religion or sexual orientation is an archaic way of thinking that needs to be abolished. Fundamentalist extremism has been rearing its ugly head all around the world over the last couple of years, and it needs to be stopped.
A portion of the proceeds from this special exhibition will be donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the name of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd to help fight systemic racism. A portion will also be donated to our longtime partners at Born Free USA to help them in their goals of ensuring that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs.
Artists Taking Part:
ABCNT
Adam Caldwell
Ador
Alex Garant
Amy Sol
Angel Once
Anthony Hurd
Anthony Solano
Atomik
Brad Woodfin
Brian Mashburn
Bryan Valenzuela
Carl Cashman
Chloe Becky
Clare Toms
Collin van der Sluijs
David Cooley
Derek Gores
Dovie
Golden Dragon76
Drew Merritt
Drew Young
Eduardo F. Angel
Erica Rose Levine
Erik Mark Sandberg
Frank Gonzales
Ghost Beard
GOOPMASSTA
Hanna Lee Joshi
Hola Lou
Huntz Liu
Jaime Molina
Jeff Ejan
Jesus Aguado
Jimmer Willmott
Kaplan Bunce
Kate Wadsworth
Ken Flewellyn
KOZ DOS
Kyle Bryant
Lauren Hana Chai
Lauren YS
Linsey Levendall
Mando Marie
Mari Inukai
Mary Iverson
Molly Gruninger
Nicola Caredda
Oak Oak
Path Whisky
Persue
Ricky Watts
Roos van der Vliet
Saturno
Shar Tuiasoa
Spenser Little
Stephanie Buer
Tati Holt
Tatiana Suarez
Telmo Miel
TMRWLND
Waylon Horner
Wiley Wallace
