- The 2nd Annual Ema Show Opening at Hellion Gallery
- Meet naoshi at the L.A. Times Festival of Books
- The Tall Trees of Paris book release party in Portland - April 30th at Gigantic Brewing Taproom and Champagne Lounge
We love springtime. In addition to longer and (sometimes) warmer days, come great reasons to head out. It’s time to dust off the winter hibernation and reconnect with the world. And what better way to fill up our social calendars than with art, books, and books about art? Here are three events we have on our dance card this month.
The 2nd Annual Ema Show Opening at Hellion Gallery
The Tall Trees of Paris author Matt Wagner is hosting the American leg of his three continent tour of the Ema Show in Portland at Hellion Gallery tomorrow (April 7th) at 6pm. The show features 41 artists from three continents, all creating Emas, which are traditional Japanese prayer plaques with images on them. As we wrote this winter, the show kicked off in Tokyo earlier this year at Hatos Bar and will be landing at Galerie Artistik Rezo in Paris in June.
Curator Matt Wagner has put together an impressive roster of 41 artists for this traveling show’s second year. Many of the artists in the show have been featured in Matt Wagner’s series of Tall Trees books, including:
Alexone, Nicolas Barrome, Stephanie Buer, AJ Fosik, Maryanna Hoggatt, Josh Keyes, Koleo, Koralie, Jon MacNair, MHAK, JM Ouvry, Ren Sakurai, SAL, Souther Salazar, and Amandine Urruty.
Click here for full details of the Ema Show.
Meet Naoshi at the LA Times Festival of Books
As attendees of The LA Times Festival of Books scan the aisles this weekend, author and illustrator Naoshi is sure to stand out at the her colorful book, Ice Cream Work. Naoshi will be signing copies of the book at the Kinokuniya booth on Saturday April 9th from 11:30 am – 1pm.
Ice Cream Work is a book for readers of all ages, illustrated using colorful sand, a Japanese painting technique known as Sunae. The surreal characters come to life to tell the story of a hard working ice cream man.
The LA Times Festival of Books takes place this weekend, Saturday April 9th from 10am – 6pm and Sunday April 10th from 10am – 5pm. Here’s more information about the festival.
The Tall Trees of Paris Book Release Party in Portland
In honor of Matt Wagner’s latest book, The Tall Trees of Paris, we’re celebrating 
Portland-style. Come out to the Gigantic Brewing Tasting Room on Saturday, April 30th from 5pm – 9pm. We’re planning some special treats and there will be books for sale. Come out and raise a glass with us!
When: Saturday, April 30th | 5pm – 9pm
Where: Gigantic Brewing Tap Room | 5524 SE 26th Avenue, Portland, Oregon
Details: Attendees must be 21+ to enter