July 13 2002, Saturday, 10am-5.30pm

"EASTMEETSWEST: CONTEMPORARY ILLUSTRATION FROM TOKYO AND NEW YORK" FEATURES DESIGNERS FROM AUSTRIA, HUNGARY, JAPAN AND U.S.

Today is your last chance to see a fine exhibition put together by designers from Asia, Europe and the U.S. The illustrators, whose works feature in the current two-week exhibition are Istvan Banyai, Guy Billout, Tomoo Gokita, Ichiro Higashizumi, Keiji Ito, Yoko Kawamoto, Zohar Lazar, Naho, Jonathon Rosen and Stefan Sagmeister. The whole essence of the exhibition - Andrew Hall, one of the curators, told us - could be summed up by the quotation on the large leaflet that we picked up several weeks back. It begins, 'Commercial illustration is a fast moving market and can be seen as a temperature gauge to our beliefs, obsessions and our psyche through the depiction of our experiences.'
 

It goes on to describe how east does, in fact - nowadays, meet west to form, "Eastmeetswest", which is the title of the show. 'This exhibition showcases work from two great metropoli, Tokyo and New York City, and looks at how cutting edge contemporary image makers mirror local and national trends, aesthetic values and debate while examining areas of global similarity. Indeed, the flow of peoples and information around the world is so fast and furious now, that separate notions of "East" and "West" may no longer apply.' The quotation ends by encouraging you to, 'grab the chance' and see it for yourself, which we likewise would strongly recommend you do. The London Institute, Asahi and Scheufelen Papers are sponsoring the event. E-mail... (see website) for more information, if required. Location: The Conningsby Gallery, 30 Tottenham Street, London, W1. Telephone: 020 7636 7478. Nearest tube station: Goodge Street (Northern line). http://www.coningsbygallery.com/