Alien/ation: an Art Riot Extravaganza - TOMORROW!

Today's post is a friendly reminder that tomorrow, July 10th, is going to be the event that Monkey + Seal (as Paper Hat Productions) has been working on for the past three months. We've been super fortunate to collaborate with the Hyphen Magazine team, and we are proud to bring you Alien/ation: An Illustration Show.

We are honored to be showing among some amazing artists such as Kim Herbst, Joseph To, and Yoko Furusho, to name a few, and our favorite vegan baker, Jen Chau from Black Orchid Bakery will be on hand with cupcakes that are really frickin' amazing.

A preview of what Seal will be showing

We also want to emphasize how excited we are about the raffle - there will be another collaborative Art Battle, but this time it'll be a triple threat match of Monkey, Seal, and Joseph To. Each will start a painting based on an audience-submitted theme. Then, they'll move on to the next person's canvas and start painting, then they will switch again so that everyone paints on everyone's piece. Finally, the artist will move back to the original painting they started and will finish it off. Exciting, huh? Even better, these pieces will be raffled off at the end of the night.

A free artist's reception is from 5:30-6:45, and doors open at 7:00. Admission is $5 (or $15 if you want to get a subscription to Hyphen). The first 25 paying guests at 7:00 will get a swag bag with some limited edition goodies inside. If you want the swag, we suggest getting there early.

A preview of what Monkey will be showing

Where else can you win original art, eat awesome cupcakes, get free stuff, and check out some cutting-edge illustrators? No where (at least no place that we're aware of). Thus, you should definitely come check out our show, and don't forget to bring cash if you want to drink since SPACE gallery (1141 Polk x Sutter) is a 21+ only, cash only venue.

Also, this is really the only night to be able to see all this fantastic art in one place, so we highly recommend it. Besides new work by Monkey + Seal, the other art being hung is really amazing and it should be a really awesome event. We hope to see you there!

Paper Hat Productions features: Out of Place!

Tonight is the Out of Place Art Riot Extravaganza!!!!

Hey everyone! We're super excited and busy taking care of last minute details for our event tonight! Monkey + Seal are super excited and can't wait to see you there!

We thought we'd share some info with you, like directions on how to get there as well as the schedule for the night!

If you've never been to SPACE Gallery, check out this handy-dandy map here (complete with nearby banks). It's located near the 19, 2, 3, 38, and sorta by the 1 Muni lines. It's at Polk between Sutter and Hemlock (right by the Hemlock tavern and across from Ozone Thai).

IMPORTANT: The bar is cash only, so if you want to avoid using the ATM and getting charged the service fees, make sure you bring some cash (or take a short hike to the nearby banks) to sample their awesome cocktails and tasty selection of beers! (On that note, don't forget the event is 21+).

7pm-7:30 - Artists reception - mingling, drinking, hanging out with people (this part is free!)

8pm - Doors open, swag is passed out, people get first raffle tickets. We'll be taking suggestions for themes/subjects for the team art battle from you, the audience!

8:30pm - Teams and theme is announced, artists split up and get limber for the battle!

8:45pm - Team Art Battle begins!

10:00pm - Battle continues, DJ Zaion starts his feature set.

10:45pm - The Battle ends.
11:00pm - DJ Zaion finished up, and voting is open!

11:20 pm - Voting closes!
11:30 pm - Winners will be announced!

Woo! We're super duper excited and can't wait to see you all there tonight! Huzzah!

Paper Hat Productions Features: Monkey + Seal

Only 2 days left until the Out of Place Art Riot Extravaganza!

As the curators and participants in the upcoming Out of Place group show, it's time to feature: Monkey + Seal :P

First off is the ever talented Eve Skylar (aka Seal) who is an amazing painter/concept artist/illustrator who is 50% of the Paper Hat Production team.

Hailing originally from Long Beach, California, this feisty artist cites classic literature, contemporary Japanese environment artists, and social issues as her inspiration.

Using extensive reference and research, Seal meticulously paints her captivating backgrounds, often with a sense of mystery and loneliness. She'll be the first to tell you that her paintings (along with research) have taken upwards of 50 hours to complete, but all that time is definitely worth it!

The other 50% of Paper Hat Productions is Rick Kitagawa (aka Monkey), who is an painter and illustrator that looks to pop culture, internet memes, and issues that affect the Asian American population as inspiration for his often humorous critiques on life.

Examining the interplay between text and image, Rick often enjoys giving a voice to the subjects of his paintings, whether it be inanimate objects, mythical creatures, or figures who are sometimes obviously upset with the way they are painted.

Additionally, as a printmaker, Rick enjoys exploring different mediums, and his combination of screenprinting with interactive sculpture will be on display at the gallery.

We'll see you in a few days!

Paper Hat Production features: Alexander Shen!

Today we'll have a little spotlight on Alexander Shen, the comic mastermind behind comics such as Robot in the City and Capesville, as well as fun little games found under the umbrella of Shen Games.

Also a talented singer/songwriter, Alexander likes to "spend most of his time dabbling and less of his time dobbling." You can usually catch Mr. Shen at the Alternative Press Expo, APAture, and most recently at the Giant Robot SF Print show. Anyhoo, please check out his plethora of sites (I'd recommend starting with his blog) and enjoy the hours of comic goodness he's got to offer!

See you on the 12th!

Paper Hat Productions Website is now up!

Here is the official Paper Hat Productions "Out of Place" Gallery website. Check out our line up of amazing artists! While Monkey and Seal were working on the getting the artists together, we were thrilled to have noticed that everyone was coming from a unique perspective and interpretations of "out of place."

Click through each of the artist's page to find out more about them and get a sneak peek of their work and style.

For the March 12th Opening Night Extravaganza, we will be featuring an art team battle, pairing up artists who have never worked with each other before, may have different styles and approach, and asking them to come up with a spontaneous collaboration piece based on an audience-selected topic.

We are also very happy and excited to add Zaion as our talented DJ to the mix!

Without further a do, we will start to feature each individual artists in the coming days. First up, is Haruka.

"By using traditional method of printmaking such as woodcutting, I want the print to bring up the problems that we face as a global society and to show the meaning of cultural importance to the public. [ . . .] By showing intricate lines, . . . my idea is to face an inquiry of being lost in translation and to notify my generation of the stance we have to take in order to blend our past with our present while rediscovering our deeply rooted culture." - Haruka

You can find her official art blog here.

Monkey and Seal is curating a Gallery Show!

We're curating a gallery show!

Opening Night Art Riot Extravaganza: March 12 at SPACE Gallery

• 8p-whenever
• Featuring 10 emerging San Francisco based artists
• Live Art Battle
• Live Painting
  
• Live DJ
• Top of the line, Comedy Improv Troupe: Hobofish
• Vegan Baked goods by Black Orchid
• Edgy drinks by SPACE Gallery
• chance to win one-of-kind, original art, just by coming out to drink with us!
  

Monkey and Seal are both busy with their furry paws and fins. We will try to update you on our process, so you can get an insight into the minds of curating -- what will become one of the biggest art riot extravaganza events ever!

Currently, Monkey is working on the official website and Seal is working on a logo. They are projecting to go live by Saturday morning.

We're so excited to feature the awesome comedy improv troupe -- Hobofish. If you haven't seen their live performance, it's a once in a lifetime treat. We're in the process of booking a DJ. A couple of promising prospects. We'd like to do a shout out to a talented DJ: Zaion. The music and the photography on his website is absolutely serene!

In the next couple of weeks, we will be featuring the different artists and events! Stay tuned for more.

Saturday fun+ Etsy wishlist

This Saturday Monkey + Seal had the pleasure of heading out to SPACE gallery on Polk to check out a gallery event put on by SIR, a cutting-edge Japanese-living-in-SF show. If anything, you need to check out their website to hear some awesome music that plays when you load their site. We were super lucky that Seal got handed a flyer by Lavit Sea, who was on hand to display a painting and do some on-the-spot watercolor portraits. Also, one of Monkey's friends AKANE was there with some cool abstract pieces. The drinks were also tasty (although not as strong as Monkey might have liked), and Monkey + Seal had a great time overall.


Earlier in the day, Monkey got the chance to make a quick trip out to the Center for the Book's Roadworks, where Megan from Aviary Press was one of the featured artists. She's starting a new line of letterpressed cards based on strange sea creatures like this Southern Bobtail Squid. Awesome stuff! Monkey also got to run into friends Dutch Door and New Lights! Yay!


Additionally, Monkey was browsing Etsy and found this little gem (shown above) in one of the treasuries. ATHD, the creator of the piece, also has some amazing (and expensive) other pieces of jewelry. If Monkey + Seal were into jewelry (we're sorta minimalist on the jewelry), and had the cash, we'd totally be down with some of her stuff.

Last but not least, Monkey will be working in a collaboration with another designer to do a new screen-printed poster based on typography. We're thinking it'll be one color, edition of 50, perhaps with some color variants thrown in for good measure. More details when we're closer to printing!