Banzai Asian goods store in Bayside
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By Brian Fraga
12/01/2005
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Daniel Oh, owner of the Banzai Asian goods store in Bayside, displays
the art pieces in his storeÕs ÒSunflower Gallery.Ó Photo
by Brian Fraga
Daniel Oh, owner of the Banzai Asian goods store in Bayside, displays
the art pieces in his storeÕs ÒSunflower Gallery.Ó Photo by Brian
Fraga
Since its opening in late August, the second-level art gallery in the
Banzai Asian home goods store on Bell Boulevard in Bayside has been a
hidden mystery to the many shoppers who don't always notice the
gallery's front-door advertising signs.
Art gallery director Myung Oh and her husband Daniel Oh, Banzai
co-owners since July, have dual goals: introducing a touch of Asian
culture into Bayside's commercial strip, and making sure that the
gallery will become a prominent part of their family business.
"People get bored with the same things over and over," Myung Oh,
herself an amateur watercolor artist and sometimes poet, said of her
customers' decorative tastes.
"People are looking for something new and different, so I wanted to
bring some Asian culture here," she said.
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"I've been painting Asian art for four, five years and had small art
exhibitions here and there," Oh said. "I was thinking of bringing
Japanese furniture into the store, which was how the gallery got
started. While I'm bringing in Asian culture, why shouldn't I add some
Asian painting, too?"
The art gallery was created from a former second-floor storage space on
49-29 Bell Blvd. above the main sales floor, which contains numerous
Asian products, jewelry, and housewares. A shopper wanting to peruse
the gallery's offerings must walk to a narrow staircase near the rear
of the store.
There the gallery features several furniture pieces, sculptures and
low-cost original paintings by Myung Oh herself and Korean professional
artist Jeong Young Bark, whose paintings were displayed in the
gallery's summer show "Into the Bamboo."
"I wanted to bring reasonably priced items with full artistic volume
plus a touch of Asian decoration into people's houses," she said,
noting that many of the pieces sell for less than $50.
"It's a touch of Asian beauty at an affordable price," Oh said.
Reach reporter Brian Fraga at ne...@timesledger.com or by phone at
718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
©Times Ledger 2005