AYA KAKEDA

MF Gallery is proud to present a new show of paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and installations by three international female artists: Nicoz Balboa (Italy/France) Aya Kakeda, (Japan) & Angie Mason (U.S.A.) These artists, all known for creating colorful and whimsical worlds where animals interact with girls and all sorts of fantastical characters, will have new art for sale, and each artist will also be creating a permanent mural in the entranceway to the gallery.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE OPENING PARTY / LIVE PAINTING

Aya Kakeda was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan and is now living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She earned a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and an MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In her art, she often depicts an imaginary place she created, called ToTai Island, and the creatures that inhabit it. For this new show at MF Gallery, she ilustrates the microscopic world of ToTai island; the girl (named "Micro-Chan") who lives inside of the creatures on the island, and her story. She will be showing gouache paintings and ceramic sculpture installations.

Nicoz Balboa was born in Rome, Italy but currently lives in La Rochelle, France. She studied at the European Institute Of Design in Rome and the ESAG-Penninghen in Paris. For almost 2 decades, she has been producing comic books and showing her art in group and solo exhibitions in Europe and the U.S..
She works mostly on wood, often combining pyrography with oil paint. Her paintings are bursts, brief glimpses, like when you look at a landscape from the window of a moving train; instants frozen in time, of a dream we will never dream again. They are fleeting glances at a parallel reality where animals know all. Nature lives and protects, and the little girls can decide to love, kill, or die. Nature and animals are solid and present and they will always remain, even when the little girls have become women, then elderly ladies, and finally ashes. They will always remain even when that land has been deserted.

Angie Mason creates character driven works that explore psychological, emotional, dark yet humorous situations inspired by life. Her darkly sweet playful cartoon characters navigate through worlds in vibrant colors and muted gray pencil works. For this exhibition, she created the 'Weathered Souls' collection, including stormy characters in the form of drawings, paintings, sculptures and jewelry she likes to call "wearable art". These moody weathered souls are worn out beauties, yet have a spark of hope and fire left in them.
She was born in Northern New Jersey, but was uprooted quite often during her younger years. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York City. Her extensive body of work has centered on an examination of modern life in a unique and sometimes frightening look through a 'grotesque folk-pop lens' of character narratives. The artist has been exhibiting her artwork in both solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States as well as internationally for the past ten years.

Nicoz Balboa, Aya Kakeda and Angie Mason will be exhibiting some of their newest works and site-specific installations at MF Gallery from April 13th until May 31st, 2013. During the Opening Party, (on Saturday April 13th from 7 to 10 pm) all three artists will be doing Live Mural Painting in the entranceway of MF Gallery. Refreshments will be served. Admission is Free and open to all ages.

The show will be open by appointment until the end of May. Contact Martina or Frank at (917)446-8681 or email: info@MFgallery.net to make an appointment to see the show. All of the art will also be available for viewing and purchasing online on: www.mfgallery.net/Angie-Aya-Nicoz/Angie-Aya-Nicoz.html

MF Gallery is located at 213 Bond Street, between Butler and Baltic Streets in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn, NY. Take the A or G to Hoyt/ Schermerhorn, the F or G to Bergen, or the R to Union.

AYA KAKEDA