CULVER CITY, CA.-Project: gallery LA presents “in a foreign land,” featuring new work from Yoskay Yamamoto and Ogi, two of the premier Japanese artists in the contemporary pop art scene. Both artists have found unique ways to blend their Japanese sensibilities with urban American culture. Visiting Tokyo based artist Ogi, generally casts his elegantly disruptive characters within a playful yet dangerous pop landscape. After a recent sold out show, Yamamoto will be creating a series of paintings and installations that showcase both his fine detail in vintage pop caricatures fused with traditional Japanese patterns.

Taking nods from fashion, pop culture, animation and Japanese traditions, both Yamamoto and Ogi use distinct illustrative techniques to create an expression of the world surrounding them.

Born and raised in Toba, Japan, Yoskay Yamamoto moved to the United States at the age of 15. A self-trained illustrator, Yamamoto’s artistic tastes expanded as he fell in love with the urban culture of the West coast. Yamamoto discovered a way to fuse the two different cultural backgrounds together into his work. Yamamoto nostalgically blends pop iconic characters from his new Western home with traditional and mythical Japanese elements, balancing his Asian heritage with urban pop art. He has sold out his work recently at shows in San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Ogi relocated to the Bay Area and received a BFA in Illustration from the California College of Arts & Crafts (CCAC) in 2004. His works are diverse and incorporate a variety of mediums (from handmade paper-clay toy figures, acrylic paints, wood, lined paper, and canvas, to digital renderings). To pin down his style would be to minimize its scope as it merges genres. Now back in Japan, he exhibits internationally, moving between Tokyo and the West Coast. He has more recently shown his works at Giant Robot, Receiver Gallery, White Walls, and Park Life.