April 24 - June 20, 1998 Opening : Friday, April 24, 6 - 11:00 P.M. Lecture by Kenji Yanobe : Saturday, April 25, 1-2 p.m. University of Washington, School of Art, Room 3 (In the Quad) Family Day Performance :Sunday, April 26, 2 p.m.   Admission Prices: Opening Night Events: free to CoCA members, all others $5 Regular Gallery Admission: free to CoCA members and kids, all others $4 Sunday Family Day Performance: $1 all kids, $2 CoCA members, all others $4 UW Lecture/Panel Discussion: Free, donation appreciated Regular Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. Sunday, 1-5 P.M

The wild futuristic art of Kenji Yanobe makes its Pacific Northwest debut with "Survival System Train and Other Sculpture by Kenji Yanobe, " opening April 24 and running through June 20, 1998, at the Center on Contemporary Art. The exhibition's official opening will take place on April 24, 6-11 p.m.. at CoCA, 65 Cedar, Seattle. Those attending will see Kenji Yanobe perform inside his sculptures, and move through the sound environment created by DJs Derek Mazzone (KCMU WO-POP show) and Jeffrey Taylor (Climax Golden Twins). Yanobe's exhibition will transform the 5000 square-foot CoCA gallery into a post-apocalyptic playground filled with massive mechanized vehicles, robotic suits, and other fantastic contraptions. Using abandoned machinery and industrial materials, Yanobe creates a tongue-in-cheek "wardrobe" that very much comments on the times in which we live. These colorful constructions embody futurist euphoria at the same time they evoke anxiety and fear and the unbridled, headlong rush of recent technology. Born in Osaka, Japan in 1965, Kenji Yanobe is part of a new generation of Japanese artists currently gaining increasing international acclaim. Called by some "The Brat Pack," these artists were born in the 1960s and grew up during the economic boom of the 1970s and 80s with its material affluence and pervasive mass media. While many of his peers adopted conventional Modernist and Postmodernist art forms, Yanobe chose to reference more indigenous sources. His works are based on the same visual style as manga otaku, the sophisticated and outrageous Japanese comic book and animation culture. Yanobe's imaginative and humorous suits and vehicles are intended for a variety of purposes. Often they are supposed to protect the user, as with Yellow Suit. Sometimes Yanobe's objects are tools for conquest, as with Foot Soldier (Godzilla), a work that can be ridden to presumably crush and annihilate one's enemies as the original Godzilla did to Tokyo. Others are used to nurture inner well-being, such as Tanking Machine, an early work that induces meditative states with its sensory deprivation tank of heated saline solution. Since these sculptures are functional and interactive, they are as technically convincing as they are absurd, displaying a fascination with gadgetry and technology's fantastic uses often found in science fiction. And, like the best science fiction, the work's initial implausibility only accentuates sobering themes beneath the surface. The exhibition was organized by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California, and curated by Renny Pritkin, Chief Curator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Yanobe will come to Seattle for the opening of his exhibition. Arriving on April 20 and staying through the show's opening weekend, Yanobe will be involved in a whirlwind of special events, including demonstrations of his works at the gallery, a lecture/panel discussion at the University of Washington, and a Family Day Performance at CoCA. Audiences of all ages will delight in robotic movements of the sculptures, and references to familiar super hero themes will provide children and youth with easy access to the imagery. "Survival System Train and Other Sculpture by Kenji Yanobe," opening April 24 and running through June 20, is an exhibition clearly in keeping with the mission and role of the Center on Contemporary Art. CoCA, a not-for-profit organization, serves Seattle as a forum for the advancement and understanding of contemporary art. CoCA provides opportunities for the art audience in the Pacific Northwest to view new and experimental artwork in exhibitions that show the work of international, national, and local artists. CoCA is committed to promoting cultural inquiry, commissioning new work and providing exposure for emerging artists. For more information, contact CoCA, 206.728.1980.