Giant Robot, which has become something of a Japanese-pop-culture-art-reading-shopping-and-eating empire since the first issue of the magazine came out in 1994, celebrates its 50^th issue this month. And an exhibition of art by regular contributors opens at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo, this weekend. The show features art by Adrian Tomine, Souther Salazar, Saelee Oh, Sashie Masakatsu, Eishi Takaoka, David Choe, Pryor Praczukowski, APK, and Gary Baseman. The opening reception on Saturday November 3, from 6:00 to 10:00 pm, will feature music by Bay Area indie band, Scrabbel.

Above: two from the JANM exhibition. Left: Sashie Masakatsu, Bug Generation, oil on canvas, 2007; right: David Choe, Untitled, mural, 2007; courtesy of Giant Robot.

I asked Eric Shiner, a curator specializing in Japanese art ("Making a Home," currently on view at Japan Society) what was his take on Giant Robot. In an email today, he wrote, "I view Giant Robot as an important conduit of information on Japanese Pop Culture for American audiences, and anyone else who happens into the store. They offer everything from the cute to the cultish, and everything in between -- and in so doing expose the major trends in Japan to their customers. I am also very happy to visit their frequent group exhibitions of young artists (both Asian and Western) who are working within the aesthetic framework of Japanese pop culture. These shows really become forums of aesthetic exchange which is so important in terms of cross-cultural communication between young artists."

When founding partners Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong began thinking about how to commemorate their 50^th issue, they tossed some ideas around together. "At first," said Eric, "we thought it might be interesting to let readers interview us but decided that we're not that exciting. Then we considered having someone else write about Giant Robot-maybe a scenster, a journalist, or an academic, to put the magazine in context." "But writing," added Martin, "is the fun part, and we didn't want to give up the pages. Finally, we decided to let the magazines themselves do the talking." The issue includes a visual survey of all fifty covers, with comments about the content by Eric and Martin.

Giant Robot: Issue 50 is a love-fest of appreciation by the founders for their audience, and from regular advertisers wishing them the very best. Feature articles include a profile of cover artist David Choe; "Pop Life," with a timeline of Asian pop cultural moments starting in the 1950s; and an interview with actor Chang Kuo-Chu [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Happy Together, Eros]. It's enough to make a fun-starved New Yorker book a flight to L.A. for the opening at JANM. But if you're stuck in the city this weekend, plan to drop in at GR-NY's East Village outpost to get your copy of the magazine and some fun consumer products. And stay tuned for the release of a limited-edition skateboard by David Choe, expected to be available in a week or so.