(L) Stills from video installation by Andy Fedak, Hikikomori-0, 2025, (R) Bruce Yonemoto, Ephemera from Green Card, An American Romance, 1982 (Photos – ArtCenter)
ArtCenter College of Design has announced 2-YOKAI, a new multimedia installation by artists Andy Fedak and Bruce Yonemoto. The free exhibition will be on view at the Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery from March 7 through August 1, 2026.
By Melanie Hooks
Bringing together animation, film and installation, 2-YOKAI explores Japanese mythological spirits known as Yokai, specifically the Kappa and the Nurikabe, through surrealist narratives rooted in folklore and reframed to reflect contemporary life.
A featured work in the exhibition is Hikikomori-0 (2025), a six-part animated series by Fedak starring Brucio, a composite of Yonemoto and a popular Japanese video game character. Set in present-day Tokyo, the vignettes follow Brucio as he attempts to leave his home, only to be blocked by the Nurikabe, a folkloric being likened to an invisible, impassable wall. Through this recurring obstruction, Fedak examines hikikomori—a form of extreme social withdrawal affecting young people who isolate themselves for extended periods—and the shame associated with unattainable societal expectations.
In the series, the Nurikabe becomes both literal and symbolic, representing the unseen barriers that confine Brucio. Rendered through high-end, handcrafted 3D animation utilizing advanced motion and facial capture technologies, the films portray a protagonist who is at once deeply melancholic and quietly hopeful. Though trapped, Brucio may ultimately find a path forward with the help of a small green lizard and his brother.
Also on view is Kappa (1987), a landmark film conceived by Yonemoto in collaboration with his late brother Norman Yonemoto (1946–2014) and produced with artist Mike Kelley. The film deconstructs the Oedipus myth within the framework of Japanese folklore, juxtaposing Western psychosexual theory with the legend of the Kappa, a malevolent water imp from Japanese mythology.
Drawing on references to Surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, as well as pop media and art history, Kappa has been described as “a delirious collusion of form and content.” Kelley performs the Kappa with unsettling intensity, while actress Mary Woronov portrays Jocasta as a vamp drawn from Hollywood exploitation cinema. Narrated by Keye Luke and featuring an appearance by artist Ed Ruscha, the film presents both the Kappa and Oedipus myths in deliberately stylized and “degraded” forms that reflect their media-saturated cultural contexts.
Accompanying the screening are related ephemera, including archived illustrations and storyboards by Kelley and Kappa figurines from Yonemoto’s research collection.
Andy Fedak
Fedak, a Los Angeles-based artist and educator, works across image, sound and computer graphics, blending contemporary art with cinematic spectacle. His projects often address social unrest and anarchist utopias through photorealistic computer-generated imagery. He holds an MFA from the University of California, Irvine, and a BFA in Film and Television from New York University, and currently serves as Professor and Area Coordinator of Game Art, Animation and Immersive Media at California State University, Fullerton.
Bruce Yonemoto
Yonemoto, who began his career in the late 1970s collaborating with his brother Norman, has long examined the influence of mass media on identity, romance and cultural perception. Since 1989, his solo practice has encompassed experimental cinema, video installation, photography and sculpture. A recipient of numerous awards and grants—including support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Film Institute, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Maya Deren Award—Yonemoto has exhibited widely in the United States and internationally.
Through the convergence of myth, media and contemporary social realities, 2-YOKAI offers a cross-cultural meditation on isolation, archetype and the unseen forces that shape human behavior.
2-YOKAI Exhbition March 7 - August 1, 2026 Wednesdays - Saturdays 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Location Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery ArtCenter College of Design, South Campus 1111 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena, CA 91105 Free O Artists Talk Saturday, March 7 4:00 pm O Opening Reception with the Artists Saturday, March 7 5:00 –7:00 pm
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