The Ninja himself is coming to Woot Bear! Join us in June to welcome Shawnimals and his abundant community of ninjas, playful shapes, living food, and other fantastic creatures to San Francisco. Admired by us since the early days of the toy scene, we are honored to finally host a Shawnimals solo show. "(comm)unity" opens on June 4th. Come meet the legend at his opening reception 5-8pm at Woot Bear.

SHOW PREVIEW (STAY TUNED FOR MORE TO COME)

Artist Statement:

   Through out of context vignettes, these works explore the interactions, memories, and mis-memories we have with each other... and ourselves. Sometimes awkward, sometimes gleeful, sometimes both, these cartoon-like scenes show an inexplicable tension between characters (whether obvious or not). The noise in our lives can cloud how we might interpret the world around us and how we remember, sometimes getting in the way of what we intended to do or say or change. Our brains make it harder still through self-sabotage and flawed methods of recall. Whether lack of focus, anxiety, poorly-timed serotonin overload, awkwardness, misaligned communities, fear, misguided curiosity, and other such things all make contributions. But still we carry on.

Artist Bio:

   Chicago-based Shawn Smith is best known as the artist and designer behind Shawnimals and Ninjatown. His primary focus in recent years has been on fine art and illustration, creating a wide variety of drawings, paintings, and public murals. His "All Shapes" body of work specifically explores ideas of friendship, community, diversity, and inclusivity, showing a wide range of not only sizes, shapes, and colors, but also emotions. Smith's hope is that the work will be indicative of the support that true community can build. Simply put, he wants to delight and inspire people everywhere with his character-based creative work.