Aiko

The framing option for this RUN includes a 1 inch white wood frame with UV-glass foam core backing and ready to hang hardware.

Note: Each order will be limited to 1 per customer.

A portion of the proceeds from this release will benefit the Flint Child Health & Development Fund and the Michigan ACLU. Click to donate to each organization directly and learn more.

"Since this project is to help people who are suffering from water in Flint, I wanted to use this image of a girl with spirit of water. Like the angel of water; she is chilling in the glass of water. Water should be free and clean for everyone, we are all part of nature. I was working on this print throughout February hand coloring one by one, and it was period of Aquarius, zodiac sign, which is the symbol of the water server.  I also discovered that the word Aquarius actually referred to the public water system in ancient Rome. When I discovered what happened with the Flint Water Crisis I couldn’t believe that it was happening now, and I am very furious about how government cannot do anything with it. Shame, why people in ancient times were able to provide clean water to everyone but not in Michigan in 2018?"  - Aiko

Read more from Aiko + learn about the Flint Water Crisis Print Suite at News.1xRUN.com . . .

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
AIKO was born and raised in Tokyo before moving to New York City in the mid-90s.

Already creating art since a young age, her art career in NYC began when she started working for Takashi Murakami. She apprenticed in Murakami’s studio in Brooklyn and worked for him until the late 90?s going on to a direct a digital biography on the artist (“Superflat” 1998). AIKO continued to practice her own art and after leaving Murakami’s studio graduated from The New School University where she finished her MFA Media Studies and later met up with two American artists, the three of them would come to establish the group now known as FAILE. Creating work within the collective locally and abroad for a number of years, she moved on and established herself as Lady AIKO in 2006.

AIKO continues to create work in the studio as well as public space. She is acclaimed in the contemporary art world and well-respected within the international graffiti and street art scene. She had a two-person show “Brick Ladies” with Lady Pink in Brooklyn in 2008, and she worked with Banksy on “Exit Through the Gift Shop” in 2010. Her large scale works indoors and outdoors are installed in many cities, including Miami’s Wynwood Walls in 2009, New York City’s Bowery Wall in 2013, and Coney Art Walls in 2015, all three curated by Jeffrey Deitch. AIKO has also been involved in a large collection of group shows, from “AnimamixBiennale” at Shanghai’s MoCA in 2009 to “Edo Pop” at Japan Society NYC in 2013, ‘Some Place Like Home” at Rumney Guggenheim Gallery NY in 2015 to her more recent solo show, “Sweet Heart” at The Outsiders Gallery in the UK in 2014.

AIKO has also been commissioned to create works in collaboration with Louis Vuitton, Coach, The Standard, W Hotel, Hello Kitty, Isetan and Warner Bros. etc.

Find more by AIKO at ladyaiko.com.

Follow Aiko on Instagram @ladyaiko_nyc

AIKO is one of the most influential contemporary street artists over the last 20 years. Her iconic and famous pieces can be found in cities around the globe. AIKO’s style, which blends Japanese and West qualities with a feminine approach is beloved and respected worldwide. AIKO was born and raised in Tokyo before moving to New York City. She collaborated with Banksy on “Exit Through the Gift Shop” in 2010. In 2012, she was, as the first woman, to create a mural on the legendary Bowery Wall curated by Jefferey Deitch, where Kieth Haring was the first artist to paint on in 1982. Louis Vuitton assigned her to be the third Japanese collaborator after Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama in 2013.

Her art career in New York began when she started working for Takashi Murakami. She apprenticed in Murakami’s studio in Brooklyn and worked for him until the late 90′s going on to a direct a digital biography on the artist “Superflat” in 1998. AIKO continued to practice her own art and after leaving Murakami’s studio graduated from The New School where she finished her MFA Media Studies and later met up with two American artists, the three of them would come to establish the group now known as FAILE. Creating work within the collective locally and abroad for a number of years, she moved on and established herself as Lady AIKO in 2006. AIKO held solo exhibitions "Lady Go" at Shizuoka City Tokaido Hiroshige Museum in 2018, she has been part of numerous shows such as "The Beyond The Street" curated by Roger Gastman, Los Angeles in 2018 and New York in 2019, “Edo Pop” at The Japan Society, New York in 2013, “Animamix Biennale” at Shanghai’s MoCA in 2009.

Not only former first lady Michelle Obama, she has been commissioned to create works by many brands including Fendi, Estée Lauder, Warner Brothers, Reebok, Apple, Microsoft, Pepsi and venues such as W Hotels and The Standard.