Toym Imao's Mecha Robot-Inspired Art Launches at Ginza

Multi-awarded visual storyteller Toym Imao presents over fifteen artworks including a mural-sized painting in Ginza-BGC to inaugurate “Art in Ginza.”  AiG was conceived over several casual gatherings with friends, art lovers and artists alike.  It was almost as if Ginza was destined to be an art space destination. 

AiG is an overall experience after imbibing the multi-sensory experience that is the Tokyo culture and business district.  The owners were overwhelmed by their last family visit to Ginza and Shinjuku. Going to the immersive teamLab museum, seeing cosplayers, eating great food; it was an overall experience that they wanted to bring back to Manila.

One of the owners highlighted: “Toym was the natural choice as his mecha robot-inspired art fuses the fantastic Japanese imagination with our own rich Filipino history and experience. We at Ginza, thought it would be a great idea to present art in a more laid back way, as you enjoy food and the company of your family and friends, you see art and appreciate it differently that you would in a gallery or a museum.”

Tradition is Ginza’s cornerstone, but innovation is its mission. It fuses the old with the new, and the cultural with the unconventional. It shares a philosophy that parallels the district’s (Ginza) cosmopolitan atmosphere through modern takes of well- loved, signature Japanese dishes in a refined yet relaxed ambiance, without the pretense. “Art in Ginza” is our effort to display and appreciate art in a relaxed atmosphere with food and drinks. 

Toym Imao, the son of National Artist Abdulmari Imao, was the natural choice for this inauguration. A multi-awarded artist, he is best known for his consistent headline grabbing installations at the University of the Philippines focused on political commentary which use popular cartoon icons Voltes V, Daimos, Mazinger-Z and other mecha robots popular during his childhood in the 1970s.  These mecha robots, were for him emblematic of the battle between good and evil.  The abrupt removal of the popular cartoon Voltes V during the martial law regime, a few episodes before it would have finished, left a lasting impression on the young Imao.  It was his first experience of censorship and the dictatorship that would cover his growth into adulthood.

A sculptor and painter in both classical and contemporary styles, a writer, set/production designer and filmmaker, Toym Imao first trained in the arts under two Philippine National Artists for the Visual Arts Napoleon V. Abueva and Abdulmari Asia Imao, his father. His formal training came from the University of the Philippines (B.S. Architecture, Masters in Fine Arts) and Maryland Institute College of Arts (M.A. Sculpture) under a Fulbright Scholarship. He studied film and apprenticed under premier Philippine director Marilou Diaz-Abaya. He credits his mentor National Artist for Literature Alejandro R. Roces for his passion for Philippine history and culture.

Toym Imao’s exhibition at Ginza, entitled “8-Bit Bites the Byte” pays tribute to his childhood experience of mecha robots, the analog life, and Philippine history. Toym further adds that “Wars and conflicts still happen around the world. But unlike games children play, we cannot simply switch it off.” Though presented in a restaurant setting, the exhibition is no less impressive than his gallery and museum exhibitions as it ranges from the big mural that integrates themes from Tokyo to New York, intertwined with Philippine history, to cast brass sculptures and limited-edition collectible toys all by Imao.  Tinged with nostalgia, the exhibition will certainly entice those familiar with Atari, Godzilla, and other icons of the Gen-X generation.  

The solo exhibition by Toym Imao opened on November 9, 2023 at Ginza-BGC G/F Icon Plaza, 26th St. Taguig, 1634 Metro Manila. It will runs up to January 31, 2024.  For inquiries, please call or Viber Jay Periquet at 0917-150-7671.  

Lead photos courtesy of Ginza/Toym Imao