Greetings, toy enthusiasts! Tonight, our Toy Expedition team is in Taipei's East District to bring you two exhibitions at once! At the art space The little hut is the solo exhibition "This Way" by Japanese artist Kohei Ogawa; meanwhile, over at the toy shop Paradise, Mr. Ogawa has teamed up with Hong Kong artist Foon Wong for the joint exhibition "Chasing The Moon Light." Let's go take a look.
At The little hut, Mr. Ogawa has brought a large collection of paintings, transforming the messages from his heart into warm brushstrokes. Through one adorable animal character after another, one can always feel the heart-healing charm of his work. Paradise, on the other hand, hosts a dialogue between two vastly different artistic styles: uninhibited street energy and delicate, healing warmth. In addition to the artists' characters appearing together in paintings, there are also three-dimensional works on display.
“This Way“
Kohei Ogawa Solo Exhibiton
Date：2024/12/21 - 2025/01/05
Time：14:00 - 20:00
(Close on every Monday)
Location / Add：The Little Hut
No.73, Lane 161, Sec. 1, Dun Hua S. Rd., Taipei
The following is official information from The Little Hut
Born in 1975, Ogawa graduated from Asagaya College of Art and Design in Tokyo in 1997. After graduation, he worked as a freelance illustrator, creating illustrations for advertising agencies, publishers, and television programs. The character he is best known for among art and toy collectors is "BG Bear."
Adept at observing the beautiful elements of daily life, Ogawa draws inspiration from seemingly ordinary things. He is renowned for his 2013 handmade needle-felted doll series, "Green Cow Garden," and incorporates his charming characters and the worlds he creates into paintings, drawings, and sculptures. His works often feature anthropomorphic animals and whimsical monster-like figures. He chooses needle-felted wool as his primary medium, allowing people to feel warmth when they touch his palm-sized creations. In 2015, he collaborated with How2work to launch the "Naughty Boy" series. Much like his preferred creative medium, Ogawa's works always evoke a sense of warmth and sweetness in the audience.
Through this brand-new exhibition, we hope to touch the depths of people's hearts with the warmth of art, healing more souls with warmth and creativity amidst their busy and ordinary lives, and injecting new emotion and hope into the everyday.
▼ If you look closely, you can even find a little surprise Mr. Ogawa has left for everyone behind the painting.
"Chasing The Moon Light"
Foon and Kohei Ogawa Joint Exhibition
Date：2024/12/21 - 2025/1/5
Time：13:30 - 22:00
Address：No. 75, Lane 161, Section 1, Dunhua South Road, Da'an District, Taipei City
Contact: 02-27766224 /[email protected]
The following is official information from Paradise
Foon Wong specializes in American/Japanese comic art styles, incorporating elements of street art, pop art, and graffiti into his designs. He has previously served as a lead artist for comics in Hong Kong and the United States. He has been invited to participate in street art creations in various countries, designing art and graffiti pieces in a pop art/street art style. In 2014, Foon joined the Hong Kong toy company Bigboystoys as Art Director and began releasing original design products, including his original series "Auspicious Beast Braves," which combines traditional Chinese lion dance with mecha, hero, and sentai styles, and the cute monster-themed "Frankenskid," attracting a significant number of designer toy fans to the brand.
Kohei Ogawa was born in 1975 and graduated from Asagaya College of Art and Design in 1997. After graduation, he worked as a freelance illustrator for advertising agencies, television stations, and publishers. In 2013, he created a series of handmade wool felt dolls. In addition to the highly popular "Green Cow Garden" series, he also creates other highly individualistic art pieces, including paintings and sculptures.
In 2015, he began collaborating with the Hong Kong toy design unit How2work to develop the "Naughty Boy" vinyl figure series, which includes released series such as "Naughty Boy," "Viking Boy," and "Hippie Boy." In 2021, he collaborated with How2work again to release the Green Cow Garden Mini Figure Series.
