Mono SANDy

ToyQube & Gallery is located in Flushing, New York, straight out of the Q borough. The big apple is right in the heart of the exploding toy scene. Many of the most sought after artist/designers originated from these very streets. You might notice that many of out products seem to be influenced by street culture, TQ represents this in the fullest. We bring you not only designer vinyl toys and other collectable figures, but we also carry kicks, clothing, and other gear that comes with the lifestyle. Most of our toys come directly from Japan, Hong Kong and other European countries - too many to name. And of course we carry a variety of figures by local designers in the states. We are just trying to satisfy everyone from the vinyl collectors to the sneaker heads. Secret Fresh was born from a passion for collecting. What was once a childhood pastime had become a hub for mining new talent in the cross pollinating fields of graffiti, comics, film, animation, music, architecture, fine art and design. This commitment has grown to facilitate and showcase further this thriving field through its gallery. Located in Ronac Art Center, the primary hub for contemporary street fashio n, design and lifestyle, and a landmark of innovative architecture, Secret Fresh likewise, is a pioneer in engaging local and foreign artists, both emerging and established ones, for collaborations on limited edition art toys and prints, coming up with truly contemporary pieces that are an alchemical mix of art and design, craft and commodity, timelessness and currency. This engagement extends to having monthly exhibits of artists not limited to the traditional media, but to those who are daring to venture into exploring new forms that spark fresh dialogue and perspectives on the contemporary urban experience. This endeavor would hopefully herald a new era of appreciating art beyond its conventional boundaries. Simone Legno is the creative director and co-founder of tokidoki. Born in Rome, Italy, Legno, drew incessantly as a child. The boxes of chewed, broken and unsharpened pencils he adored as a kid were the beginnings of a passion for art that led to the eventual creation of tokidoki, Legno’s online portfolio of the same name. tokidoki means “sometimes” in Japanese. Legno, who has always had a deep love of Japan and fascination with world cultures, chose the word because he feels “everyone waits for moments that change one’s destiny, by chance or by meeting a new person”. Simone's special moment arrived when his designs drew the attention of entrepreneurs Pooneh Mohajer and Ivan Arnold, who spied the art on his personal website and convinced him to move to L.A. to start up a dynamic new partnership with them. Simone has been a sought-after speaker around the world at museums, universities and conferences, from MOCA (the Geffen Museum-Los Angeles) to the Adobe MAX conference, UCLA, USC, the Flash Film Festival in San Francisco, Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome, Grafika Manila and many others.