In early 2023, Los Angeles sign painter and OhNami Gallery owner Nami Oh was looking for a studio space. She happened to find one in downtown Los Angeles on the block where she grew up.“I grew up with my grandparents, who owned a liquor store on this block,” she recalls. “I happened to still be there helping the new owners who took over my family’s liquor store, and that’s how my gallery became available.” Oh works in the back of the gallery and hosts free community shows in the front. Now she’s at a point where she needs to make money to keep the space afloat. After talking with friend and fellow artist Michaela Quan, she had an idea: sell tickets to a Sanrio fan art show by local Los Angeles artists. “I started preparing for the show, and in the middle of it, I realized that Hello Kitty is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year,” Oh says. “So the timing is perfect, and it’s an advantage because there are so many Hello Kitty knockoffs in Los Angeles.”
Oh says Fanriothe Sanrio Community Art Exhibition, is aimed at families living in the area. “T“The owner before me was a clothing brand that did some art shows, but they weren’t geared toward families,” she says. “After living on this block my whole life, I just want to have a place where kids can see art and remember it, so people can have a good time nearby and not have to drive to Disneyland or something.”
She was both nervous and excited about the recent opening of the exhibit. “I’m scared, but I hope I can do this all through the holidays,” she says. The exhibit brings together the work of several Los Angeles artists, photographers and sign painters, including Oh’s own Sanrio mural on the gallery walls. The result is something Quan affectionately calls “Friendrio.”
Here some artists (and friends) exhibit their works in Fanrio chat about their favorite Sanrio characters and how they keep community spaces lively.
Who is your favorite Sanrio character and why?
Michaela Quan: My favorite Sanrio character is Badtz Maru. I have it tattooed on my right arm. He is a little penguin with a pet alligator and a bad attitude. He walks around with a Team of villains who don’t accept no for an answer. I grew up collecting stationery with him on it, so I have a particularly nostalgic connection to him.
Eva Minh-Châu Liebovitz: Pompompurin, for sure. I love his beret and the color combination of yellow and brown. He also has a special quality because he is not in the spotlight like Hello Kitty, Melody or Kuromi.
Asako Otaki: Hello Kitty, but there’s no particular reason why she’s my favorite character. Like so many other girls, Hello Kitty was on everything, clothes, backpacks, pencils and erasers, shoes, and umbrellas, so it’s only natural that she’s my favorite character.
Jasmine Allam: As a child, I was always drawn to Chococat. His aloof nature and big eyes always appealed to me. Black cats may have a stigma, but to me, they are a symbol of good luck. My love for Chococat grew after I learned a few years ago that he is a Taurus, known for his reliability and appreciation for the finer things in life. I never got out of my Chococat phase. Some things never change.
Joy and Mercy: Kuromi! I’ve always liked her because she’s sassy and charming, but I can also understand that she’s a little rough compared to her sweet personality.
Marcie Diaz: My favorite Sanrio character is My Melody. There’s something so sweet about her and she’s usually portrayed as very shy or nervous, which I associate with the quiet child in her childhood.
“A lot of fan art is a bit embarrassing. But I think if you accept the bad luck, it’s actually a relief and a lot more fun.” – Michaela Quan
Alex Horta: My favorite is my girl Hello Kitty. I feel like she is the boss and that is a victory in my eyes.
Tell me about your fan art for the Ohnami Gallery show. What did you create and why?
Michaela Quan: My Fanrio piece features 13 people (including me), all in close-up with face paint of their favorite Sanrio character. I created this piece because I wanted a reason to invite people to the show hosted by my upstairs neighbor. A lot of fan art is a little embarrassing. But I find that if you embrace the bad luck, it’s actually a relief and a lot more fun.
Eva Minh-Châu Liebovitz: I made two bead curtains. The Keroppi curtain was made to donate the proceeds to Palestinian aid. I love seeing handicrafts in gallery spaces. The sentimental items that decorate our homes and the artworks we interact with are also sacred.
Asako Otaki: I made a small table because I recently got my own studio and wanted a nice table to match my decor. I wanted to paint something that would make me happy every time I look at it, so I painted my favorite car, a 1956 Chevrolet Belair, and my favorite trio, Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Kuromi.
Jasmine Allam: I knew instinctively that I wanted to paint Chococat in a hot air balloon. Having him travel seemed relevant to this stage of my life – I was moving away from my family and hometown in the East Bay Area to begin a new journey in LA with wide eyes. When I look at this piece, it reminds me not only of the journey I took from the Bay Area to LA, but also the journeys of my loved ones, including my parents’ journey from the Philippines to the US.
Joy and Mercy: I chose Hello Kitty as a motif because my mother has been a fan of hers for a long time. For my piece, I decided to create something based on the depiction of Mother Mary with baby Jesus, inspired by the Baroque style of Roman Catholic artwork. I thought this was a nice idea since I already create religiously inspired pieces, but I also combined it with my anime and manga style.
Marcie Diaz: For the show, I created an oil painting titled “Miss Kitty White” with a custom frame. I felt like I needed to honor Hello Kitty since it’s her 50th birthday. This led me down a rabbit hole of her origins and who Hello Kitty was. Surprisingly, she’s not a cat, but a little girl named Kitty White who lives in England with her family. So I went with that and painted Kitty imagining and immersing herself in the world of Sanrio that she created.
Alex Horta: I made two wooden cutouts of Hello Kitty. I like to do what makes me happy. Sometimes that’s a gothic kitty figure and a lowrider popsicle.
As an LA-based artist, why do you think spaces like OhNami Gallery are important?
Michaela Quan: We need spaces run by people who were born and raised in LA and have personal ties to the area, not more dispensaries.
Eva Minh-Châu Liebovitz: It’s incredibly important to have galleries and exhibitions that don’t rely on traditional art channels. It’s important to have places like this where you don’t have to hold your breath and be quiet in a gallery and where young people can just come in and see the pieces and engage with them at their leisure.
Asako Otaki: I think Nami’s gallery space is very important to us because it is located in the middle of downtown and we want more people from different places to come and see our art.
Jasmine Allam: Trade Tech culture is a unique experience; a place for those who really want to be there and carve out their place in it. OhNami Gallery is an extension of that and contributes to achieving true craftsmanship.
Joy and Mercy: I find that spaces like OhNami Gallery are of tremendous importance to smaller artists like myself, especially considering how nerve-wracking it can be to exhibit a piece of art for the first time.
Marcie Diaz: What I loved most about this place is the sense of community. It’s so important to immerse yourself in art and it’s something that everyone can enjoy.
Alex Horta: For me personally it is an opportunity to get in touch with other artists.
Fanrio will be open to visitors on several dates in August and September 2024.
