Giant Robot isn't the only place to see exciting new art by Asian artists. This past winter, original works by the biggest names in Tokyo's burgeoning art scene were on display at the Gallery at Village Shalom, located in our very own Johnson County. Yoshitimo Nara's paintings depicted cute, round-faced kids engaging in deviant behavior. Aya Takano's lanky, bikini-wearing watercolor girls did backbends as their stomachs transformed into oceans and banana peels. More than just a nod to a culture that's too easy to exoticize, this exhibit acknowledged the current worldwide fascination with Japanese pop art and attempted to make some philosophical sense of it. The effort was wildly successful. Bringing in a body of work that most Kansas Citians thought they'd have to go to New York or Los Angeles to see, the Gallery at Village Shalom -- tucked in a suburban retirement home -- proved that some of the greatest things happen in the most unexpected places.
