Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot fame drives his curating talent into the mainstream with Scion’s “To the Masses” show in Culver City. Taking advantage of the gallery’s expanse, Nakamura brings us a strong, balanced collection of nine fun, inventive artists — many of whom have shown in his galleries or appeared in his magazine. Not to be missed are FERIC’s beautiful blueprints of whimsical evolution: layers of pencil and calligraphic line mixing printed pages with applied paint.
Kohei Yamashita spawns a new generation of Sanrio characters, with pop-up books that fascinate whether you can read the Japanese kanji on the pull tabs or not. Adding the dimension of sound to the exhibit are Olaf Ladousse’s “Doo Rags” — recycled toys and what-nots reconfigured into sculptural musical instruments that he will play for you without much coercion. Don’t lose sight of them in between his colorful political posters, which have adorned Madrid since 1999. Scion Installation L.A., 3521 Helms Ave., Culver City; Wed.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; thru Sept. 8. (310) 815-8840.
—Shelley Leopold