A panel discussion of exhibiting artists from the contemporary art section “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty” will be held Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo.
Paul Frank, Simone Legno and Brandi Milne will talk about their work and how Hello Kitty served as inspiration. The artists will sign copies of the “Hello!” exhibition catalog after the discussion.
Admission is $12 for members, $15 for non-members. Does not include admission to the exhibition. For more information, call (213) 625-0414 or visit www.janm.org.
Artist Bios
- Paul Frank is an internationally known artist whose bold, satirical designs for clothing and accessories have appeared in magazines, television shows, commercials, music videos, and motion pictures. Frank also creates fine art, which he describes as his character designs brought to life in soft sculptural form through sewing, carving, woodworking, and screen printing.
- Simone Legnois the creative director and co-founder of tokidoki, an innovative line of apparel, handbags, cosmetics, and accessories. Tokidoki, which means “sometimes” in Japanese, has a worldwide following and has collaborated with numerous brands, including LeSportsac, Marvel, Levi’s, Smashbox cosmetics, and Xbox. Legno describes his brand’s philosophy as “the hope that something magical will happen to us.”
- Brandi Milne’srustic, melancholy scenarios recall classic European Gothic paintings while simultaneously expressing deeply personal narratives of growth and struggle.