"Coined Operation: Fragmentation"
2006-12-12 until 2007-01-21
BoMA, Bar of Modern Art
Columbus, OH, USA United States of America

BoMA: The Bar of Modern Art is pleased to announce its upcoming designer toy show. Coined Operation: Fragmentation, the group exhibition will feature customized creations by twenty-four renowned underground artists from around the world. The exhibition will be on view in BoMA’s first-floor Salon Gallery from December 12, 2006 through January 21, 2007. Among the artists is Walter King, who has been a Premiere Portfolio Artist at absolutearts.com since 2001.

Operation: Fragmentation is the brainchild of Guest Curator Laura Kuenzli, an avid supporter of the recent art toy movement and its prominent illustrators. Inspired by this subculture’s relative lack of exposure in the Columbus, OH area, she took the initiative to establish a concept and organize an exhibition. Kuenzli purchased, from Jamungo, a series of identical 9” rotocast vinyl Nade figures, in the form of personified hand grenades. Each was then paired with an authentic surplus ammo case, into which the toys could be stored. The artists then received these items with little instruction and encouragement to re-interpret the pair as they wished. To Kuenzli, the show’s title speaks to the effects of a detonated grenade, as well as the smattering of styles and techniques that the assignment will yield.

Kuenzli hand-picked the participating artists based on merit and using the relationships she’d already established within the art community. (A list of artist-participants and their web links is accessible at www.operationfragmentation.com.) The resulting line-up is a veritable survey of the lowbrow, underground community, its artists, styles, techniques and ideals. Adam Brouillette, Angie Mason, Annie Owens, Bobby Dixon, Colin Christian, Dave Burke, Doktor A, Giant Japanese Monster, Bad!, Grant Fuhst, Jenna Colby (Soopajdelux), Jim Koch, Kathie Olivas, Mark Nagata, Mat Eaton (AZK), Michelle Steele, Mike Maas, Naoto Hattori, Ryan Myers, Stone, Todd Cameron, Tyson McAdoo, VanBeater & Ferg(Jamungo), and Walter King.

Just recently unveiled to the public to much acclaim, after a year of great anticipation from the Central OH community, BoMA Gallery proffered an ideal platform for Kuenzli and her mission. The venue itself has received unprecedented exposure since its opening in early October and continues to gain momentum. This partnership is sure to give Operation: Fragmentation the attention it deserves as well as the greater art toy movement a new Midwestern following.

View more of Walter King's art in his Portfolio at absolutearts.com at http://www.absolutearts.com/walterking/

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Ohio

Other Important Exhibitions in Columbus

Call for Artists : 13th Annual Subtle Technologies Festival Explores Sustainability - Subtle Technologies, University of Toronto Art in Mind : Work by Natalia O'Neill - Brick Lane Gallery The Ione Citrin Collection - Poway Center for the Performing Arts Gallery Parallel Realities : Aishan Yu's First Solo Show in the UK - Peifen Fine Art Secrets and Confessions : Peter Sudar, John Stark, Leonard Vartic, Ioan Cristea - Ana Cristea Gallery Call for Artists : The Beast In Me, Johnny Cash - Art Influenced by the Struggle of a Man' - Nave Gallery Notations - Bruce Nauman: Days and Giorni - Philadelphia Museum of Art Beauitful Elsewhere : Fusion and Con-fusion - Migrating Cultures and the Dynamic of Exchange - Universita di Napoli - Partenope Animal Nature : Powerful Paintings, Drawings and Digital Prints by Hyacinthe Kuller-Baron - Computer Arts Gallery