Toy Story is a group exhibition that explores the enchanting universe of toys as seen through the eyes of a diverse array of contemporary artists. The exhibition transforms toys from mere playthings into profound symbols of identity and societal observation.
As visitors wander through the exhibition, they are invited to journey back to their childhoods, to a time of simplicity, naivety, and unbridled imagination. Each artwork serves as a portal to the past, where toys are not just objects of amusement but carriers of deep, often unspoken narratives about memories, experience and the world we inhabit. The artists in Toy Story use the motif of toys to bridge together the nostalgia of youth and the complexities of life nowadays, challenging viewers to see beyond the surface and to question the norms, beliefs, and divisions that are shaped by our society along the way.
From the playful defiance in Zhao Bandi’s Panda’s Olympics (2005) to the detailed storytelling of Derek Fordjour & Nick Lehane’s Fly Away (2020), Toy Story peels away the layers of significance imbued in these familiar objects. This exhibition is a testament to the power of toys as both mirrors and critics of the world, highlighting their ability to evoke a sense of purity and wonder while simultaneously commenting on deeper cultural and personal themes.
Toy Story will feature selected works by Zhao Bandi, Javier Calleja, Ryan Travis Christian, Derek Fordjour & Nick Lehane, Mehdi Ghadyanloo, Haroshi, KAWS, and Mr.. The exhibition invites viewers to reconnect with the child within, to view our surroundings with a sense of curiosity and openness, and to reconsider our preconceived notions and beliefs.
About the Artists:
Zhao Bandi
Born in 1966 in Beijing, Zhao Bandi is a Chinese artist known for his playful and provocative works featuring himself and his toy panda in staged scenarios. Blurring the lines between fiction and reality, his art explores everyday situations with humor and critical insight, challenging the boundaries between image and reality.
Through his compositions, Zhao Bandi addresses themes of media culture, mass reproduction, and the power of manipulation in contemporary society. His pieces often combine elements of communist propaganda with glossy advertisements, offering a unique commentary on modern life in China.
Graduating from the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1988, Zhao Bandi’s work has been showcased internationally, from the Sydney Biennale to the Venice Biennale. His projects, such as the Zhao Bandi & Panda series and the Bandi Panda Fashion Show, have been displayed worldwide, reflecting his impact on the global art scene.
Javier Calleja
Javier Calleja rose to art world prominence thanks to his instantly recognizable figurative works, which often feature squat, wide-eyed characters with exaggerated proportions. The Spanish artist’s practice spans painting, sculpture, and works on paper, as well as an array of editioned work and merchandise. Calleja has shown at galleries in Madrid, Barcelona, New York, Paris, and Hong Kong, among other major cities. A number of public collections throughout Spain have acquired his work.
Ryan Travis Christian
Christian (b.1983) is an artist who pokes taboos and fluffs his intrusive thoughts, going against better taste in pursuit of a new type of feeling Known for his sfumato-heavy graphite drawings, which often place anthropomorphic figures seemingly plucked from early 20th-century animation into sordid, soft-focus milieus, Christian is now magnifying his obsessive micro-transgressions in girthy paint: public satire at impregnable scale, all the while continuing his tendency of poking at the paradoxical relationship between childish cartoons and ominous messages in a darkly distinctive style.
Derek Fordjour & Nick Lehane
Derek Fordjour is an American interdisciplinary artist and educator of Ghanaian heritage who works in collage, video/film, sculpture and painting. Fordjour was born to parents of Ghanaian heritage. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, Atlanta, and earned a master’s degree in art education from Harvard University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times and Hyperallergic, and he has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair and Forbes Magazine. His work is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Art Gallery of New South Wales; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Nick Lehane is a puppet artist and theatre maker based in Brooklyn, NY. He works as an actor, puppeteer, designer, deviser and director in theatre, television, film/video and performance art. His work has been presented throughout the United States, in Canada, England, France, Singapore and Uzbekistan, has been named a New York Times “Critics Pick”, and has been selected among the yearly “Top 10 Theater Moments” by Vulture/New York Magazine. Lehane was the lead puppeteer and puppet director for Alex Da Corte’s ROY G BIV at Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept. He holds a BFA from The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and studied at The Moscow Art Theater School and The Rhodopi International Theater Laboratory in Smolyan, Bulgaria.
Mehdi Ghadyanloo
Mehdi Ghadyanloo, born in 1981, is an Iranian artist whose work straddles the line between the familiar and the uncanny. Growing up in Iran during the tumultuous Iran-Iraq War, with his father serving as a soldier, Ghadyanloo’s early exposure to conflict shaped his artistic journey. Initially limited to traditional miniature painting due to the constraints of available art instruction, Ghadyanloo’s talent eventually blossomed, leading him to embark on a prolific career in mural painting. Over the span of a decade, he completed over one hundred murals across the city, transforming Tehran’s urban landscape by replacing propagandistic imagery with public art aimed at fostering environmental awareness and civic unity.
Haroshi
Haroshi (b.1978) is a Japanese artist and sculptor. Influenced by street culture and skateboarding growing up, his works are primarily constructed out of recycled skate decks. It is important to note that the bearers of this culture are people such as those of racial and sexual minorities, or so-called “drop-out kids.” In this respect, it was rooted in the creativity of nurturing unique values, behaviours, and languages that opposed the conventional norms and value systems observed within higher society.
KAWS, born Brian Donnelly in 1974 in Jersey City, NJ, is an American graffiti artist and designer known for his toys, paintings, and prints. Graduating from the School of Visual Arts in New York, he transitioned from animation to graffiti in the early 1990s.
His distinct style reimagines advertisements with a pop art twist, notably seen in his Companion series. Collaborating with brands like Nike and Uniqlo, he blurs the lines between fine and commercial art. KAWS’s large-scale installations, such as KAWS: Holiday in Hong Kong, have garnered acclaim.
In 2019, his piece “THE KAWS ALBUM (2005)” sold at auction for a record $14.8 million, showcasing his influence. His works are featured in prestigious collections worldwide, and he resides and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Mr.
Mr. (b.1966) is a Japanese contemporary artist associated with Superflat movement. Mr.’s neo-pop aesthetics spans painting, sculpture, installation, and video. He uses manga and anime to portray his personal fantasies. While he consistently draws his themes and motifs from the otaku subculture or fandom. Contrasting with the bright cheerfulness of his all-powerful characters, a wider reflection on solitude, social anxiety, and fear underlies his work. Specifically, the chaotic environments within which Mr. stages some of his exhibitions echo both Japan’s traumatic loss during World War II and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
This exhibition is made possible thanks to loans of artwork from public and private collections.
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