2010 Nisei Week Japanese Festival Presents 'Gallery Art Sho' New Paintings by Local Artist, Sean D'Anconia NEW

To celebrate the 70^th Annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival, local artist, Sean D'Anconia delivers a fresh angle on the Pan-Asian synthesis with a special presentation of new paintings and commemorative mural in honor of the Japanese and Japanese-American cultural contributions and spirit. D'Anconia's work contains iconic, traditional Japanese references depicting temples, restaurants, and gardens - including legendary animated and living figures celebrated alongside the 442 Regimental Combat Team of Japanese-Americans, the most highly decorated unit in American history that fought in Europe during World War II.

D'Anconia, also known as Sho-San in Japanese,distills and expresses the cultural cross-roads of Nisei Week in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo (Sho-Tokio) with his "fusion-aesthetic" visual style. D'Anconia, a Canadian born, Los Angeles-based designer-artist known for his retreads of such familiar characters as Popeye, Hello Kitty and world cinematic icons, brings his unique visual stamp to a celebration of the heroic icons of the West and East in a unique gallery opening at HOLD UP ART, situated in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo.

D'Anconia's Asian-Western synthesis, long in the making, sprang from his early childhood discovery of Japanese popular literature, plus a visual vocabulary forged during repeated trips to Japan, a residency in Hong Kong, and an ever growing collection of art, books, and appreciation of the food and mores of ancient and contemporary Asian culture.

A cultural immigrant to the United States, D'Anconia brims with a rich understanding of pop culture, from cinema to the graphic arts to apparel. In the tradition of such fashion luminaries as the late, great house of Matsuda, D'Anconia reverse the east to west gaze with a distinct, utterly west-to-east perspective on the heroic icons of Hollywood: the detective, the seductress, the lone wolf one-man-alone, all fighting against the world for their code of values. D'Anconia handles painting, graphic design and fashion, aspiring to the dignity exemplified by the great heroes of ancient Japanese, courtly fiction and the lean, modernized versions coming from post-war Japan and contemporary Hollywood.

D'Anconia's visual style integrates multiple worlds, blending the petals and incense of Japan with the open, grit of the American West, and the suave style of British Canada into a dust devil of pan-cultural celebration.

D'Anconia's celebratory mural and new paintings will be on display at the HOLD UP ART Gallery located at 358 E. 2nd Street beginning on Aug 14th until Aug. 22nd For further information, please contact Michelle Smart at michelle@smartoriginals.com or go to the Web site at: www.shokio.com

Sean Danconia Nisei Week Poster

HOLD UP ART is a Pop Urban art gallery located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles's Little Tokyo District.  Founded by recent USC graduates Brian Lee and Benjamin Kaufman, HOLD UP ART reevaluates the role of the contemporary art gallery, curating fresh, innovative shows every three weeks that pull from a large pool of local Californian artists.  HOLD UP ART is the first gallery in Los Angeles to cater specifically to all levels of art enthusiasts, from experienced collectors to the daily fashion shopper, offering a wide range of prices and an educated staff