ILLUSTRATIVO - daily eyecandy and cute art

Exhibition link: http://www.bruno9li.com/about_9li.htm
Bruno 9Li's inspirations come from daily life experiences of the diverse population of its residents (European, Japanese and Latin American descent) as well as his search for life's meaning through spirituality, alchemy and cultural symbolisms.

He often speaks of "all being one," and is deeply aware of the unity of people, animals and nature itself. 9Li creates works of art that share this vision with his audience through epic encounters of natural and supernatural beings. These encounters, depending on the viewer, can be seen as mythic morality tales of the past, or a keen foretelling of the future.

In his exhibit, Mysterium Tremendum ( Overwhelming Mystery ) at Anno Domini, there are works that incorporate mutations of man and beast, beast and nature, man and the elements of nature. Bruno painted the walls to give the drawings* a connection to one another... the body of work being a bigger story and each image being a chapter of that story.

Bruno 9Li currently resides in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He recently had a solo exhibit in Barcelona, Spain, he has an upcoming exhibit in Sao Paulo and will return to Anno Domini for his second solo exhibit in August 2008.

Yuko Shimizu

Link: http://www.yukoart.com/
Drawing had been Yuko's hobby ever since she was a child. However, growing up in a traditional Japanese family, pursuing a path in art was just not an option. After receiving BA in advertising and marketing – the most creative of the practical field – from Waseda University she landed on a position in PR for a big corporation in Tokyo.
It never made her quite happy, and she was in a mid-life crisis at age of 22.

It still took Yuko more than 10 years before she figured out what she really wanted to do and to save just enough so she could go back to school full time for 4 more years.
So she came back to New York in 1999, where she briefly spent her childhood, and enrolled in School of Visual Arts (SVA). Yuko graduated with Master's Degree from Illustration as Visual Essay Program in 2003 and has been illustrating since. She also teaches a BFA Illustration class and occasionally advises MFA students at SVA.
She works in a studio in Manhattan, a space she shares with two artists whom she considers as 'New York family'. She has not gotten into mid-life crisis since she became an artist.