Pictoplasma Berlin Explores Whats New In Character Art

by Caro Posted on May 6, 2015

Last weekend, Pictoplasma (previously covered here ) returned to Berlin for their 11th annual showcase of Contemporary art and design trends. Pictoplasma is well known across the globe for its character design annuals, but the festival also highlights fine art, street art, illustration, toy design, animation, and graphic design. This year saw a continued interest in character-driven Pop surrealism, whichaddressed modern societal issues through kitsch and cute characters by an eclectic roster. Over 40 international artists took center stage withan extensive program of workshops, lecturesat Babylon theater , andtwo major exhibitions- Pictoplasmas main exhibition Form Follows Empathy at Silent Greene and the Pictoplasma Academy Group Showat Urban Spree . Newcomerssuchas Tado and Hikari Shimoda (HF Vol. 29), hailing from the UK and Japan respectively, joined artists Akinori Oishi, Yomsnil, Yves Geleyn, Birdo, Brosmind, Nicolas Menard, to name a few. Theyprovided audiences with afresh insightinto Character Culture.

Hikari Shimoda speaks at Babylon Theater, Berlin.

Pictoplasmas roster is part of a movement with roots in Asian culture, and boasted several attendees from Japan in particular. Perhaps the most famous icon of this movement is Hello Kitty, who stars in Tados first-everstop-motion animation. The artist duo presented her as their inspiration and an example of a characters higher role. She has no mouth or facial expression, allowing the viewer to project his or her emotion onto her, and a relationship is instantly formed. Many werequick to point out that underneaththeir subjects kawaii (cute) exteriors are much darker themes. Hikari Shimoda elaborated on her use of specific motifs, such as the sparkling Chernobyls necklace that adorns her child subjects. They serve to remind us how our present day actionsaffect our childrens future.Her paintings arean example of the festivals overalltheme. It seems that every artist wears cuteness on his or her tool belt to cope with or make light of humanitys destructive tendencies.Korean artist Yomsnil shared Shimodas exploration of spiritualism and characters as modern day idols. Slide after slide, he showedimages of higher art objects, like porcelain sculptures, whichhe transforms with funny faces. This is a concept that artist Akinori Oishi reduces to its most simple, natural form with his message, Smile.Smiling characters appear everywhere in his world, on toys, fruits, andbuildings.Not everything in the festival is cute, but nearly every artist projects his or herselfonto something that brings it to life. Theirartis a remix of pop culture references and real life experiences,where empathycomes first and the characterfollows.

Form Follows Empathy:

Yomsnil