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Kalan Strauss "Watered Down"
America-Bashi Gallery
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Artists
Kalan Strauss
Watered Down presents a new series of paintings by Kalan Strauss that examine the afterlife of consumer objects, primarily through the image of the Super Soaker. Each work is drawn from cropped and reframed photographs sourced from eBay listings, where these toys continue to circulate as collectible relics of nostalgia rather than functional objects.
Originally marketed with overtly sexualized and power-driven imagery, Super Soakers carried cultural codes that extended far beyond play. They embedded ideas about desire, gender, and competition that became subtly woven into the social fabric. Today, their circulation on resale platforms underscores how these objects persist in memory, their value tied less to utility and more to the symbolic weight they carry.
By reworking these images with careful precision, transforming ordinary eBay detail shots into painstakingly painted compositions within the gallery, Strauss confronts how context reshapes meaning. Cropped and reframed, the objects take on a more abstract, architectural presence, detached from the marketing narratives that once defined them. In this way, Watered Down points to both the dilution of the object’s original purpose and the lingering intensity of its cultural charge.
Originally marketed with overtly sexualized and power-driven imagery, Super Soakers carried cultural codes that extended far beyond play. They embedded ideas about desire, gender, and competition that became subtly woven into the social fabric. Today, their circulation on resale platforms underscores how these objects persist in memory, their value tied less to utility and more to the symbolic weight they carry.
By reworking these images with careful precision, transforming ordinary eBay detail shots into painstakingly painted compositions within the gallery, Strauss confronts how context reshapes meaning. Cropped and reframed, the objects take on a more abstract, architectural presence, detached from the marketing narratives that once defined them. In this way, Watered Down points to both the dilution of the object’s original purpose and the lingering intensity of its cultural charge.
Schedule | Oct 17 (Fri) 2025-Oct 26 (Sun) 2025 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Oct 17 (Fri) 2025 18:00 - 20:00 | ||
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| Fee | Free | ||
| Venue | America-Bashi Gallery http://AmericaBashiGallery.com/  | ||
| Location | 1-22-3 Ebisu Minami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0022 | ||
| Access | 5 minute walk from the East exit of Ebisu Station on the JR Yamanote, Saikyo and Shonan Shinjuku lines. 7 minute walk from exit 1 at Ebisu Station on the Hibiya line. | ||
| Phone | 03-6303-1414 | ||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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