which was visiting Little Tokyo's Japanese American National Museum
for the 40th Anniversary retrospective Hello Kitty Exhibit. Hence the superlong title of this post, which is exactly the name of the exhibit's title (yes, they put the word "supercute" in there). Kirbie had a preview last year and even went to the Hello Kitty Con as did one of my good friends and even Superman went (I believe he posted a photo of an illicit/unsanctioned Hello Kitty, uh "personal massager" on his IG). General admission is normally $9 but I think it was $20 for the special exhibition. Dayum.
Below, a replica of the very first Hello Kitty item ever made, a coin purse bearing her image, which became quite popular.
To be honest, as a kid, I never even knew about Hello Kitty. I think around 1980, when I was in 6th grade, the Sanrio store opened at the local mall and my younger sis went crazy for all of the different characters like Little Twin Stars and My Melody. Later on in high school, Astroboi liked Batz Maru (one of the characters made to appeal to guys). As for me, I thought Hello Kitty and her friends were cute but never collected anything. But, of course, being a fan of pop culture, couldn't pass up the opportunity to see this first ever exhibit commemorating HK's 40th year.
It was visual overload in here...there were so many HK licensed products and a few illegal ones (like alcohol and the sex toys, haha)
The curling iron looks disturbing.
OMG, I NEED THESE.
Wall with images of HK through the years...(sorry for the blurriness in some)
There were a lot of awesome pieces by famous artists. I don't remember the titles or artists, but here are a few that caught my eye:
This line drawing was so cool. When you take a closer look, you can see the hundred of painstaking tiny HK's that make up this piece.
More artwork:
"Super Space Titan Kitty", fiberglass sculpture by Colin Christian:
A quilt made with old rock band t-shirts (I spy Def Leppard and in the upper right corner, a heart applique featuring "Eddie" the corpse mascot for British metal band Iron Maiden (the image is from their album, "Killers")
Here are some branded HK items:
Tokidoki, (not sure what brand of camera), Barbie and
Kiss figurines, Paul Frank bag, Doc Martens and Elmo!
Art by Gary Baseman:
Hello Kitty inspired clothing from a past season of American's Next Top Model:
Plus Lady Gaga's HK dress made of dozens of plush HK toys:
More cutness:
Aaaand more HK inspired art...
This was Kittypatra, by Simone Legno (creator and founder of Tokidoki):
Honest Abe looking fly:
This was such a fun exhibit which we had a great time exploring at a leisurely pace. While we could have spent hours here...we were ready to call it a day.
Who else went to the JANM "Hello Kitty" Con in 2014?
Kirbie was able to get a preview, November 2014
Articles:
"Hello Kitty quintuples attendance at JANM" LATimes, October 2014
"Not just cute and not a cat: Hello Kitty's first museum retrospective" October 2014
DiscoverLosAngelesblog November 2014
Some great short vids I found:
Previous visit to the JANM:
"Little Tokyo: Giant Robot Biennale 2" January 2010
About the exhibition (which has since closed, sad panda):
www.janm.org/exhibits/hellokitty
Japanese American National Museum
100 N. Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 625-0414
www.janm.org
Looking forward to this one, the Giant Robot Biennale 4:
www.janm.org/exhibits/grb4 which opened on October 11 and ends next year on January 24th.
Road trip!!!
Next up, snacks across the street before the hotel and dinner...
4 comments:
Re: the display case with the Tokidoki, camera, and Barbie, the Hello Kitty on the lower right is Chun Li from the Street Fighter games! http://www.sanrio.com/product/street-fighter-x-sanrio-11-plush-chun-li/
I love the portrayals of HK through the years and all the creative pieces that are on display. My favorite is probably the collage from old band shirts!
Thanks for the info Jinxi! I will make the update. :)
I wish the show was still on. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.
I'm so bummed I didn't get a chance to go to this :( Was there an entry fee? I am such a huge fan of Hello Kitty. She represented 'cute happiness' when I was little. But everything from that brand is hella expensive so I didn't have much of HK when I was younger. The Hello Kitty fighter robot pic is creepy - I'd totally dress as that for Halloween though. Great post and pics!
Yes, I mentioned the price in the post.
I wasn't onto HK as a teen but I can appreciate her pop culture signifance as an adult.
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