March 16 - April l 20, 2012

VENUS CAKE
Junko Mizuno Solo Exhibition

Magic Pony welcomes Japanese artist Junko Mizuno for her second Canadian exhibition Venus Cake : Junko Mizuno's Food Obsession. As the first body of work in her Food Obsession series, Mizuno takes us through a personal, psychedelic journey through delightfully dark food fetishes from an ornate whipped cream Ouroboros to fish carved sushi schoolgirls and a sadistically delicious pancake kitchen. With a decorative graphic sensibility that evokes both American and Japanese pop culture, Mizuno combines cuteness, gore and eroticism within an oeuvre that includes comics, painting, drawings, animation and toys. Influenced by vintage shojo manga, folktales, horror and pop art, Mizuno creates fairy tales where erotically adorable pin-ups prance naively through imagined worlds, battling and cohabiting with the dark energy that surrounds them. With realized sexuality, hunger and violence, Mizuno’s girls combat fatal relationships with desires and demons. Playing off our fascination with the cute and the macabre, strong-willed vixens flaunt their charms, and fight for their beliefs, misfit protagonists for the modern day woman.

OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, March 16th
7-10pm
Artists will be in attendance

LOCATION:
MAGIC PONY
680 Queen St W, Toronto
ON Canada

Runs April 20, 2012

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VENUS CAKE
AFTERPARTY BURLESQUE SHOW
Join us for the VENUS CAKE AFTERPARTY at the Bovine Sex Club for a very special performance by The Underground Peepshow. The Underground Peepshow is a series of outrageous fandom-themed burlesque events held quarterly at the Toronto Underground Cinema. This burlesque performance features acts inspired by the sweetly titillating, uber-sexy girls of Junko Mizunos artwork, brought to life by underground hotties Betty Quirk, Sevvy Skellington, Meryle Trouble, Barely Legal Leelando and Dr Tease. Featuring a special performance by the notorious Raymi the Minx.

BOVINE SEX CLUB
542 Queen St West
Friday March 16th, 10pm sharp
Admission at door $10 / $5 with costume or Junko Mizuno exhibition button

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ABOUT JUNKO MIZUNO
Junko Mizuno began drawing and publishing her own manga (comics) over ten years ago in Japan. Her distinct style was immediately recognized and she began working with acclaimed magazines and music labels to produce original manga. In 1998 Mizuno's first full-length manga, Pure Trance, was published followed by several comics based on familiar fairy tales including Hansel & Gretel, Cinderalla and Princess Mermaid. Mizuno's sweetly titillating horrific depictions of classic tales appealed to international audiences and she soon developed an intense cult following worldwide. More recently Mizuno has chosen to focus on her fine art and has exhibited in galleries across Europe and America.

Selected Artwork: