IT may look like a cross between an Ewok and a Care Bear, but  this is in fact a  virtual pet from Moshi Monsters, which is tonight staging its first art exhibition.
The Monsters Inked exhibition will open at the Idea Generation gallery in Shoreditch, and features monster inspired artwork from leading artists.
Those showing new work include Pete Fowler, who illustrates album covers for Welsh band the Super Furry Animals, and Flanimals illustrator Rob Steen.
The site behind the exhibition  was set up by London internet entrepreneur Michael Smith, and is based in Battersea.
It was set up in April last year, and despite having no marketing, now boasts 1.5 million users.
In fact, the exhibition is the first time the site will be marketed.
“It’s been amazing, as we have reached 1.5 million users with virtually no advertising,” said Mr Smith.
“I got the idea after seeing a tamagotchi, and realising how addicted children were to them. We simply moved that idea online, and let the monsters inhabit a virtual world.”
Children visiting the site adopt a monster, and that then customise its appearance. Your monster, a kind of online tamagotchi, must be regularly fed, and can interact with other monsters in the virtual town created by the site.
Users can also play games such as spelling or maths puzzles.
“We wanted to keep the site educational, and also ideal for short bursts - the idea is that a child spends five minutes playing a few games per day, not all day randomly wandering around the virtual world,” said Mr Smith.
The biggest hurdle to the site was privacy.
“We thought a lot about protecting the users, but we think we got it spot on. We collect no information about users, you can’t send private messages or post photos, and we also monitor things.”
The site’s users are mostly under 13, and although signing up to the site is free, parents can sign their children upto to an expanded version and buy objects for their monsters. The firm now employs 20 people, and is set to expand into mobile phone applications and even cuddly toys based on the monster designs.
The monsters look like small, crudely drawn cartoon characters, which inspired next week’s exhibition.
“Through the site I became interested in the art of monsters, so it seemed an obvious thing to do,” said Mr Smith.
The exhibition will also include 25 monster pictures drawn by the site’s users, and Moshi plans to choose one to be used on the site as a new type of monster, as well as being exhibited.

www.moshimonsters.com

www.ideageneration.co.uk/generationgallery.php