Update: Congratulations to user TeamHubble for being selected from our random drawing and receiving a free copy of the book! Thanks to all that participated!
by Shepard Fairey: Untitled
Nothing tastes more like iconography than Hello Kitty. The character has been printed and copied over generations through culture, pop art, graphic design, toys and pretty much any other way imaginable. Conceived by the Japanese company Sanrio, Hello Kitty first appeared in 1974 and made its American debut in 1976. Together with Sanrio, Roger Gastman has compiled a collection of some of the most beloved works of Hello Kitty by contemporary artists in a new book Hello Kitty, Hello Art!
"Hello Kitty is the ultimate muse, a blank canvas upon which for years people have projected their dreams and fantasies, and increasingly, artists too."
-Caroline Ryder
by Caia Koopman: Gato Muerto
The artists that comprise the book include Gary Baseman, Ron English, Luke Chueh, CRASH, RISK, Anthony Lister, Eric Joyner, Camilla d’Errico, Amanda Visell, Colin Christian, Huck Gee, Kozyndan, Deph, Caia Koopman, Yosuke Ueno and many others.
"About two years ago, my wife and I went to check out an art show at Santa Monica airport in a huge hanger. It was a Sanrio show and we didn’t know what to expect. It just sounded cool. When we pulled up, we were not disappointed. It seemed like a carnival atmosphere. As we walked in, we passed a chuck wagon of food trucks with a variety of assorted pleasures. Then I saw a Ferris wheel. It was really cool! We were really surprised and we wandered through a maze of great art. We had no idea what to expect and we were hooked. We caught the Hello Kitty fever!”-RISK
by RISK: East Meets West
Sanrio celebrated its 50th Anniversery in 2010. The brand prides itself in leading a lifestyle they define as a "small gift, big smile" philosophy. There are over 50,000 Sanrio brand items in 70 countries world-wide.
Since she has been around for so long, I feel like I know her; I’ve been with her through her various stages and products and she has been with me through my life.”-Natalia Fabia
by Natalia Fabia: I Heart Hello Kitty
Sanrio paired with artist POSE, a Chicago based street artist, and launched a gallery show on October 14th under the same name Hello Kitty Hello Art. The show was at the Known Gallery in Los Angeles.
Roger Gastman, the compiler of the book, has been in the art and graffiti scene since his teenage years in Bethesda, Maryland. He has founded two pop-culture magazines- While You Were Sleeping and Swindle (co-published along with Shepard Fairey) and has published more than 30 art books. He is the founder and creative director of R. Rock enterprises.
You can buy the book over at Abrams Books or from Amazon
Check out all the Hello Kitty items at our Kitty Shop.
Recently I've been struggling with how to be an adult and still love Hello Kitty. Can I, being a twenty-something now, walk around with a Hello Kitty backpack? How do you reconcile being an adult and still loving something a lot of people associate with children? This art book seems like a step in the right direction.