Where is the most off-the-beaten-path exhibition this summer?
Recently, the "Unknown Soul Transit Station - Jason Freeny Anatomy Works Inland First Exhibition" is being exhibited in Jing'an Joy City. To describe the "master's" grandeur in the simplest words, it is - "As long as he raises the art knife, your childhood toys are dissected." ”
■ Lego villain anatomy Photo: Jason Freeny
Jason Freeny isn't the only contemporary artist to dissect toys, but he has made it his mark, like fork eyes for kaws, formalin for Damien Hurst, and balloon dogs for Jeff Koons.
■ Anatomical works of little yellow ducks and rabbit myna Image: jason freeny
From the obscure "artisan masters" of a few years ago to the "trend artists" that are carried out around the world today, jason freeny is becoming more and more familiar to more and more people. In some grocery stores in Shanghai, in the young people gathered in Zhihu, his works will appear inadvertently. Where is the "skeleton toy"? After watching the exhibition, you may know~
In this exhibition, you can see jason freeny's more than 500 hipster works, as well as hundreds of creative manuscripts.
The most eye-catching is the 3-meter-tall giant balloon dog shape, which was remodeled based on the work of one of the "world's most expensive living artists", Jeff Koons, and Jason Freeny's first anatomy. A balloon dog can break down 26 pieces of components, and the organs can be removed individually, but the appearance is quite smooth and tightly sewn.
Next, Jason Freeny "kindly and friendly" dissected almost every animated character we were familiar with, especially the TV animation that people watched as children in the 1970s. Lego villain "stroke", Sesame Street skeleton is still so cute, Rabbit Bugs reminds people of double-stream rabbit head, SpongeBob SquarePants only big head is not scary at all...
Superheroes were also dissected by him. However, he almost only dissects DC Comics characters, such as Spider-Man and Wonder Woman.
Jason Freeny once expressed his intentions in an interview:
I choose what everyone is familiar with to create. Usually they can only see 2D images of these characters, and I make these images three-dimensional, let people see what's inside, and take the toy to a higher level.
However, it is not without "explicit" creations, such as this brain bomb ↓
"Organic shoes" that you can wear if you dare to wear them
Sakura's version of "Skull Bomb" has a kind of aesthetic ↓with inconsistent painting style
There is even a metal toad with Chinese characteristics at the scene, spitting out money ↓
There is nothing better to see in the whole exhibition than the "Soul Exchange". In the glass passages that reflect mirror images from the top, bottom, left and right, there are many small jason freeny works on display. If you bring your own hand, you can also exchange numbers in the "exchange area". As an upgraded version of the blind box, there are a total of 50 grids that can be drawn, and each hand is accompanied by the original owner's "abandonment declaration" - if it is Woody in Toy Story, how sad he should be!
It is worth mentioning that the skeleton that sounds terrible does not look very scary. The children even aroused a strong curiosity about this, some stopped to observe, and some began to describe to grandma in a colorful way: "You know what? This half of him is alive, this half is dead. ”
■ Children and anatomical works Image: Jason Freeny
Having a childlike heart and turning a skeleton into a toy can be cute! Mom and Dad can even choose some of these toys to tell their children about the internal structure of the human body and animals in a fun way. In order to construct the "non-existent organism" body structure, Jason Freeny taught himself forensic science and anatomy.
But according to the uncanny valley principle, the closer it is to a human but not a human thing, the more terrifying it is. Barbie dolls and some of the superheroes' semi-anatomical toys are more "hideous", they do not appear in this exhibition, Thoughtful Jun recommends them as adult toy collection.
This year, adults also want to have their own toys, and trendy toys are the favorite of many people.
Zhou Zhijun has several small partners around him, who will tirelessly buy blind boxes, collect sonny angels, molly... These small toys look a little ugly at first glance, and then look a little cute, which is probably a little rebellion and small happiness hidden in the hearts of young people.
Of course, the "cute" component of sonny angel is still far more than the "ugly" ↓
Molly, who is in the position of "a sister in the tide play industry", seems to have more "ugly" components ↓
And to talk about the super IP of the tide play industry, it must be the kaws that caused a burst of buying in Uniqlo a while ago. Due to the sky-high price of hundreds of millions of dollars on the auction field, grabbing a 99 yuan Uniqlo joint T-shirt seems to be able to get the experience of "annual salary of one million".
■"Dissected Companion" in Kaws Shanghai
The most interesting thing is that Kaws' most classic series "Companion" has two versions, the regular version and the anatomical version, and many people have got the cuteness of "semi-anatomy" from him. Half of the body is exposed, the organs are all used in the most vivid colors, the material is made of reflective glass fibers, very pop, very clean, very unreal, so it is not scary.
The price is also not cheap, this anatomical version of the "companion" alone will cost 1599 yuan ↓
Therefore, some "prophets" have long said that kaws and jason freeny will eventually have a war. Jason Freeny bought Kaws' "Companion" series and responded to Kaws' questioning that as long as it is not "finished and turned into a commodity to sell", toy transformation has nothing to do with it. What's more, trend artists basically use popular culture to recreate, and the "copyright problem" is a problem that almost every trend artist will encounter.
■ Jason Freeny's "Companion" semi-finished product Image: Jason Freeny
His production process is currently very personal, unlike many long-established artists who have adopted the "assembly line model". Every time an original model was made, it was sketched, colored, molded, half-dug out of the prototype mold, and the internal organs and bones were kneaded with clay, because they were all very different.
■ The production process of the original model Image: jason freeny
One is the "top traffic" of the tide play industry, and the other is the "anatomy expert" of the tide play industry, who do you support? In terms of collection value, Kaws's works are more exquisite; in terms of fun, Jason Freeny's works are more relaxing, and the blind box on Taobao can buy one for less than 100 yuan, which is really impossible to buy and can't be deceived.
■mightyjaxx jasonfreeny SpongeBob Semi-anatomical Doll Image: Web
"Semi-anatomy" tide play, are you moved?
Time: July 6, 2019 ~ August 20, 2019 10:00 - 22:00
Venue: 3rd Floor Atrium, South Block, Joy City, Jing'an, Shanghai, No. 198 North Xizang Road
Ticket price: 45 yuan for single exhibition tickets, 70 yuan for double exhibition tickets