Buff Monster @ Corey Helford Gallery”

Like the recent heady romance between notable tastemakers and Andy Warhol, perhaps America's love affair with anime-inspired art is also just a passing fad. And maybe when those admiring the work of Junko Mizuno or Takashi Murakami pause to deeply consider the disposable nature of anime and other overly romanticized facets of Japanese pop culture, the inevitable backlash may spark. But until then, we have another name to underscore in this movement: Buff Monster.

A Los Angeles street artist whose work serves as an amalgam of Japanese art (think Miyazaki meets Hokusai), Mr. Monster attended classes in business administration during the day and wallpapered cities like Tokyo and LA with his hand-screened posters at night. So don’t think of “The Sweetest Thing”—opening this Saturday evening at Corey Helford Gallery—as an appropriation of Buff Monster’s efforts into a constrictive environment. Consider it a collection that’ll save you hundreds in unnecessary airfare by amassing his work in a single venue. His paintings will be executed on birch panels of varying sizes; these works will feature kanji translations of some of his most notable catchphrases, including “Extra creamy”—especially suitable considering that his influences range from porn to ice cream. His other influences are worth noting too: heavy metal and kaiju, or the same kind of Japanese “strange beast” phenomenon that spawned Godzilla and Mothra. “The Sweetest Thing” ends it run September 2.