KANKURO UESHIMA COLLECTION

GERHARD RICHTER Abstrakte Skizze (Abstract Sketch): Year: 1991
Medium: oil on canvas, signed, dated VII. 91 and numbered 749-7 on the reverse
Dimensions: 30 x 35 cm (11 3/4 × 13 3/4 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

One of Richter’s most significant series of work “Abstrakte (Abstract)”. Richter categorized a group of related works with the same raisonné number (controlled numbers for all works). This work is the 7th in a series of 12 works with raisonné number 749. Unlike other “Abstrakte” series, this work and 749 series are classified as highly related to “Photo Painting”, which is also his most important series. The reason is that number 1 to 4 from 749 series are individually titled “Bühler Höhe” and are categorized as “Photo Painting”. This work depicts a grove of trees on a misty hill. Therefore, it must be recognized as related to the same series - although extremely abstract, the composition of the greenery of the hill and the grove of trees barely remains on the painting. The subsequent five works are even more abstract in which original forms of motifs are hardly retained. This painting is from an old collection of Richter’s former partner, sculptor Isa Genzken, however, disappeared for a while after Genzken gave it away. In 2015 when Catalogue Raisonné (Complete works) was created, this painting along with several works, were mistakenly listed as destroyed (Verified).

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

BERNARD FRIZE Bitje: Year: 2019
Medium: Acrylic and resin on canvas
Dimensions: 135 × 105 cm (53 1/8 × 41 3/8 in.)
Acquired from PERROTIN, 2022

Rainbow-like colorful stripes, blotches like iridescent clouds, and smooth surfaces that look light-embedded, all created by the combined use of paint and resin only. When Frize paints a picture, he defines a set of rules and regulations in advance. He prepares a detailed plan for colors, composition, and even the type of paintbrush he uses. It is very difficult for the viewers to follow the extremely complicated production process of Frize’s works. Painting is a method of expression with many basic limitations. A painting normally must be fitted into a rectangular canvas, and the use of paint requires knowledge and technical skills. However, the history of painting has come through a rich development by breaking down and transcending such limitations. The existence of these restrictions is the reason for the increase of the rich imagination and Frize condenses both restrictions and richness of pictorial expression on a single canvas.

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KOHEI NAWA PixCell - Deer 40: Year: 2015
Medium: Mixed media : Glass beads, taxidermy, aluminum
Dimensions: 134 x 56 x 72 cm (52 3/4 x 22 x 28 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2022

Kohei Nawa is best known for the Deer of his “PixCell” series. Among many of Nawa's works, PixCell-Deer are his signature art pieces and have attracted high acclaim and popularity. These artworks are currently held and displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and other institutions in Japan and abroad. Deer have been historically considered sacred animal in Japan because they are “messengers of the gods”. Nawa himself publicly stated that it is a representation of the deer as a “sacred beast in his “White Deer” artwork. In addition, the commentary at the Metropolitan Museum of Art also points out the possibility of resonance between “PixCell-Deer” and the “Kasuga Deer Mandala,” a type of Japanese religious painting. If we reconsider the role of the beads from this perspective, they can be interpreted as the circle of the sun. Since the sun is regarded as the sacred mirror as well, the viewer is constantly confronted with his/her own sight through the reflection of each bead. The beads that covered the deer by “countless sunlight” are the physical boundary that separates the human world from the nonhuman world, and at the same time, serve as a spiritual barrier.

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BERNARD FRIZE Untitled: Year: 1984
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 162 × 130 cm (36 3/ 4 × 51 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

Unlike the typical image of Frize that is composed of strokes and stripes, this work is composed of random-looking layers of colors. However, it is still Frize’s work. Even in this seemingly chaotic work, there must be some kind of rules imposing the restrictions. Whether it is the logic in the colors and composition, or perhaps the rules for the order in which the colors are layered, there must be more subtle rules that are invisible. When the viewer becomes accustomed to this untracked overlapping of colors, the figures of humans and animals start to emerge from the depths of the painting. It seems as though the artist hides their concreteness intentionally. It is unlikely that Frize created this painting blindly. If the concreteness that must have been there clearly in the eyes of Frize is impossible for the viewers to find, then this may be the proof that this artwork has reached a supernatural level of artistic expression.

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ADRIAN GHENIE Impossible Body 4: Year: 2022
Medium: charcoal on paper
Dimensions: 65 x 100 cm (25 5/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Pace Gallery, 2022

This work is part of the first full-scale charcoal drawing series for Ghenie, who is mainly known in the field of painting. As often noted in comparison to artists such as Otto Dix and Willem de Kooning, Ghenie's works are situated somewhere between figuration and abstraction. He is known for his expression of seemingly exposing what is hidden within the human spirit and body. In his previous works on canvas, the smooth strokes created by the fluidity of paint have amplified that characteristic through the depiction in what could be described as a sensuality with a sense of soft flesh. However, in this work, a completely different material of charcoal on paper is used, and Ghenie brilliantly achieves his unique and vivid expressions with canvas and paint. Even though the work is in monochrome, the control of shading is so rich as if it evokes colors. The contrast of the charcoal lines running fluently on paper fully depict the dark side that seems to seep out of the drooping figure. Perhaps a projection of Ghenie’s own aversion to new technology, the smartphone-like object gripped in the figure’s hand seems to be symbolizing the uncertainty that covers the entire work.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

AGNES MARTIN untitled: Year: 1995
Medium: watercolor, graphite, ink on paper
Dimensions: image size: 22.9 x 22.9 cm (9 x 9 in.) / sheet size: 27.9 x 27.9 cm (11 x 11 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2022

Agnes Martin is known for her works of horizontal or grid lines which look vanishingly fragile on a specific-sized square canvas. This work is one of the many works on paper that Martin created throughout her lifetime. It consists of horizontal bands in white, red, and blue, and are repeated in a width ratio of 2:1:1. When viewed from a distance, it appears to be nothing more than a set of mechanical lines reminiscent of an industrial product However, upon closer inspection, one can see the fine fluctuation and roughness of handwork and notice that even the pale-colored surface has an unexpected expression of the painting. The watercolor spreading texture is one of the few elements that give a sense of the artist's presence within this immaculate composition. Later in life, Martin lived in Taos, New Mexico. Taos is in the wildland of a desert area, known for being O'Keeffe’s favorite place for her stay and artistic creations prior to Martin. It might have resonated with Martin's inner self, who once stated that her paintings are intangible abstract expressions like the sea does not bring any forms to mind. She was also familiar with Buddhism and Zen. This is a work that inspires a quiet contemplation as to what Martin was trying to search for behind the pale hues and impeccable lines.

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JADÉ FADOJUTIMI A Patchwork Trail: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic, oil, oil bar, oil pastel on canvas
Dimensions: 200 x 170 cm (78 3/4 x 66 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Taka Ishii Gallery, 2022

This work has a refreshing feeling as if a ray of bright light has suddenly penetrated through a deep forest. Behind the spreading calm green surface, the sparse bright yellows and pinks peek through, resembling dappled sunlight. It is probably made of layers of highly transparent paints, allowing viewers to see through several folded layers of extremely diverse colors. This is the reason why this work is filled with not only powerful and bold brushstrokes but also delicate and beautiful light. Fadojutimi’s image seems to be visible in that she does not simply wield the brush with force but rather enjoys capturing the wonderful visions that outpour from the work when she is freely controlling the colors, lights, and lines. The depiction of dark, black branch-like elements that seem to unexpectedly cut through the space gives a perfect tension to the composition, which is almost intoxicating in its recklessness. The term “Trail” in the title implies traces left behind by something. Fadojutimi creates paintings inspired by a variety of elements, including sounds, places, and texts. As is the case in this work, it is the job of a great painter to leave traces of those beautiful inspirations in the work to show its way to viewers like us who have nobody to turn to.

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THEASTER GATES Slaves, Ex Slaves: Year: 2021
Medium: Neon mounted on aluminum backing
Dimensions: 36 1/2h x 34 3/4w x 10.16d in 92.71h x 88.27w x 10.16d cm
Acquired from Monastery Foundation, 2022

While Theastar Gates, who studied sculpture, ceramics, urban planning, and religious studies at university, is recognized for his groundbreaking projects that aim to revitalize the Black community in Chicago's South Side, he regards himself as being a potter at heart. Having studied pottery in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture in 1999, and frequently visiting Japan ever since, Gates deeply resonates with the concepts and philosophies of Japanese “Mingei” (folk art and crafts), and in recent years has been working on what he refers to as "Afro-Mingei," which combines Japanese philosophy and Black identity. This work was exhibited at "STILL ALIVE International Art Festival Aichi 2022" in the installation "The Listening House," made by converting an old residential building in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture that had been dormant. Framed by the blue neon tubing is a chart illustrating the percentage of African-American who serve as slaves—one of several statistical documents exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition by American sociologist and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois that provided information on Black American history and the actual live and circumstances of African Americans at the turn of the century. Over the course of 70 years spanning from 1790 on the far left going towards the right, the ratio of slaves shown in black in the lower part of the image gradually continue to overwhelm the neon tubing (= freedom) in the upper section, Finally, following the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, 100 percent of African-Americans have managed to attain freedom by 1870 as indicated on the far right. The neon sculpture, while harboring an incisive gaze that sheds light on the dark history of American society that is reflected to the present day, permeates with an air of nostalgia and poetry.

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LAUREN QUIN Hammerhead: Year: 2023
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 208.3 x 173.4 cm (82 x 63 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Blum and Poe, 2023

Lauren Quin’s work draws on prior art history at various levels—image, technique, and concept, all of which are layered onto the support to create paintings that the artist herself refers to as “models for visual indulgence.” This work is one of a series inspired by “Tityus” (1632), by the Spanish Baroque painter Jusepe de Ribera. The painting depicts the scene in which Tityus, a giant in Greek mythology, is having his liver perpetually eaten by two vultures as punishment for a transgression. Although the sight of this bird ferociously picking at a man is a terrifying one, there is no such explicit depiction in Quin’s work. Here, the eagle is sublimated to the meaning it symbolizes and becomes the inspiration for a series of images. Eagles and other birds of prey sometimes circle in groups, riding thermal updrafts, and a group flying this way, as if boiling up into the sky, is described as a “kettle” in English. Quin’s characteristic way of painting with swirling “tubes” is associated with the “kettle”. The term “Hammerhead” refers to the end of a hammer, but also to a variety of sharks, due to its shape. Unusually for sharks, hammerhead sharks are known for swimming in large groups, and it may be that Quin sees some overlap with the “kettle.” Furthermore, colors in this painting, a spectrum of strong, fiery reds, and hues with a metallic quality appear to give off light, recalling the fire that Prometheus stole for humanity from the heavens. Indeed, for this crime, Prometheus underwent the same punishment as Tityus. It is this overflowing association of imagery that makes Quin’s work so rich, creating a fertile visual narrative

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KATHARINA GROSSE untitled: Year: 2013
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 200 x 130.3 cm (78 3/4 x 51 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Christie’s, 2023

Grosse is attempting to transcend painting that exists in space beyond its two-dimensionality. After Lucio Fontana incorporated a dimension that expands into the depths of cracks and Frank Stella liberated painting from the rectangular shape, artists have experimented with various mediums in today’s world where painting no longer solely depends on the surface as the support. The use of aerosol became popular after its introduction in 1970s street culture, but Jules Olitski, known for his Color Field paintings, and Yayoi Kusama, who lived in New York around the same time, had already been using spray guns in their paintings in the 1960s. The act of “spraying” color onto objects has thus been incorporated as a painting medium. In some of Grosse’s works, the dual relationship that emerges by spraying color is visualized. By placing an object that shields the surface from the spattered color, the artist presents absences of color, in other words, she demonstrates an intaglio-like approach to her painting practice. This tendency is evident in this work, where the viewers can imagine the process of gradually shifting the position of something like a paper pattern while spraying color on top. The very areas that were “not colored” in each layer give a “painting-like” quality to elements such as image, shape, and composition. After all, from this perspective, it can even be said that the vivid colors which appear to form the essence of this work, represent negative space within the painting. Grosse overcomes illusionism through this experiment by flipping the positive and negative within the relationship between the figure and the ground in painting. It aligns with Gross’s root of thinking, where she develops her paintings on a spatial scale that does not adhere to two-dimensionality.

ARTIST LIST

KOHEI NAWA PixCell - Mandarin Duck: Year: 2018
Medium: Mixed media : Glass beads, taxidermy, aluminum
Dimensions: 26 x 38 x 38 cm (10 1/4 x 15 x 15 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

This is one of Nawa’s representative series “PixCell”. A taxidermied mandarin duck has been encased with countless beads. The beads prevent the viewers from appreciating the beautiful leathers – nuptial plumage, which normally has a high appreciation value in detail. The transparency of the beads allows the viewers to easily observe the inside each bead. However, the mandarin duck itself, as a single organism appears to be slowly decomposed into a collection of small, particle-like units (Pixel) because of the surface is covered with beads (Cell) in various sizes. It is as if the reincarnation of a cell is being visualized. The beautiful figure is given permanence as a taxidermy, and the structure is being firmly protected by countless beads. On the contrary, this artwork strongly suggests the visual decomposition and disintegration, and offers the viewers the impression of covering their eyes and rejecting them from the object. Even though it is obvious that the mandarin duck is there, it is impossible to touch it directly or see it clearly.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

TAKASHI MURAKAMI x VIRGIL ABLOH Bernini DOB: Carmine Pink and Black: Year: 2018
Medium: Acrylic on canvas mounted on aluminum
Dimensions: 141.6 × 120.3 cm (55 3/4 × 47 3/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

This is a collaboration work of Takashi Murakami and Virgil Abloh. Takashi Murakami, a leading contemporary artist representing Japan both with his name and his quality in art, and the creator of “Superflat”, an art concept he proposed in 2000 that spread around the world from Japan. Virgil Abloh, founder of the high-end street brand Off-White, and the Creative Director of Louis Vuitton in his late years. This work could be described as a rather extreme mixture of the self-portrait by 17th century Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini which Abloh used in the 2018 Autumn/Winter collection of Off-White, and Murakami’s character, Mr. DOB. Various variations of “Bernini DOB” which is connected to this work were displayed at the exhibitions of the duo at Gagosian Gallery in London, Paris, and Los Angeles throughout 2018.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

GERHARD RICHTER Kanarische Landschaften I [Canary Landscapes I (Butin 39)]: Year: 1971
Medium: Heliogravure (the complete set of 6 works with original case)
Dimensions: image: 11.8 × 22.7 cm (4 5/8 × 8 7/8 in.) - 15.3 x 24.4 cm (6 x 9 5/8 in.) sheet: 39.5 x 50.1 cm (15 1/2 x 19 3/4 in.) each
Edition: No.29 of 100
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

Considered by many to be the greatest living artist, Richter is an unquestionable megastar of contemporary art not only in Germany, but in the whole world. Richter works with various materials in his two-dimensional works including photographs, paintings, glass, and mirrors. This work is one of several series based on photographs taken on the Canary Islands in 1969, with a beautiful continuity of a set of six pictures. Richter’s paintings can be broadly divided into “Abstract” and “Photo Painting”. He has produced a large number of artworks of landscape depictions classified as “Landscapes” in the “Photo Painting” series since the beginning, and there are also several pieces with the Canary Islands theme like this piece. The reason why Richter’s photo-like paintings look so much like photographs can be clearly understood when comparing his paintings to photographs. This is because in “Photo Painting” he shows how “photo-like” of a photograph can be created with painting techniques. This work is a very important work for understanding Richter’s concept, which can be said to be the foundation of his work.

ARTIST LIST

GERHARD RICHTER 4. 3. 89: Year: 1989
Medium: oil on color photograph
Dimensions: 10.2 x 15.2 cm (4 × 6 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

This is one of a series named “Overpainted Photographs”, in which Richter took snapshots of his family, house, or cityscapes he visited, then oil-painted on the surface of photographs. Being part of the series, this work is categorized as “Rural Landscapes”. The photograph setting probably suggests a mountain landscape. One can also see snow on the rocky terrain; thus, one can imagine the harsh environment. What would be the artist’s intention to cover the bottom part of the work with dark paint? This work clearly expresses the interest unique to an artist who wanders between photography and painting. It is titled as the creation date, and the numbers of works imply that this is part of Richter’s daily production activity. Richter signed and titled on the upper-left corner of the work.

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GERHARD RICHTER 21. Feb. 01: Year: 2001
Medium: oil on color photograph
Dimensions: 14.6 x 10.2 cm (4 × 6 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

As, Newspapers are spread out in the room when one is peeking through the unpainted parts of this work. This is from the “Overpainted Photographs” series and is considered to be a good example of what Richter’s concept of abstract is all about. The word “Abstract” conveys the concept of “drawing off from” a symbolic representation and generalizing it. Although abstract paintings are commonly misinterpreted as not expressing particularly anything, instead of depicting specific forms in their original state, tangible and intangible properties (concepts) are preserved. In this work, seemingly random application of paint on top of a photograph with clearly visible objects, and how Richter abstractly intervenes in the concrete world with his attempted results, all convey Richter’s concept of abstraction in a direct manner.

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THOMAS RUFF Substrat 7 III: Year: 2002
Medium: Inkjet print, Diasec mounted
Dimensions: image: 147.3 x 108 cm (58 x 42 1/2 in.)　sheet: 168.3 x 128.9 cm (66 1/4 x 50 3/4 in.)
Edition: No.5 of 5
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

Ruffis one of the leading contemporary German photographers. He studied photography at the Dusseldorf Art Academy, where Bernd and Hilla Becher were teaching. He and his fellow artists often called it the “Becher School” as they were taught by Mr. and Mrs. Becher, the founders of modern photography. Their activities were referred to as one of the most important movements of contemporary photography of the 20th century. Ruff, who has been described as a “photographer without a camera”, created works applying existing images that overflowed in the world and defined to them as contemporary “photographs”. In this work, he creates a rainbow-like image by repeatedly processing colorful images from Japanese manga and anime until the originals are no longer recognizable, then decomposing the colors to the utmost limit.

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HIROSHI SUGIMOTO Prospect Park Theater: Year: 1977
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 41.9 x 54 cm (16 1/2 x 21 1/4 in.)
Edition: No.15 of 25
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

One of the pieces from “Theaters” series by Hiroshi Sugimoto. In photography, the longer the film is exposed, the brighter the photo gets. This artwork is a photograph taken inside a movie theater, as the title suggests. However, no movie is projected on the screen, which is the most important element. The appearance of just a white screen brightly floating in the darkness is completely different from the movie theaters that we know. For the “Theaters” series, Sugimoto visited movie theaters all around the world and took a picture by leaving the shutter open from the beginning until the end of an entire movie. The scenes of the whole movie that lasted a few hours are all condensed and projected as a mass of light. As photographs are not video images and by nature, they only capture a very moment of the world, it is difficult to record time. Sugimoto has managed to capture both “movie theater=space” and “movie=light” in a single picture. It looks extremely static at first sight, in fact, it is a terrifyingly dynamic movie-like photograph.

ARTIST LIST

LEIKO IKEMURA Lightscape: Year: 2022
Medium: tempera and oil on nettle
Dimensions: image: 180 x 110 cm (70 7/8 x 43 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Shugo Arts, 2022

This work was showcased in Ikemura’s solo exhibition “infinitely transparent”. The word “light (hikari)” has been repeated three times in the short subtitle: “infinitely transparent / light that can be seen from the darkest place / light appears from the darkest place / light that shines in the endless dark place”. This work was presented in the center of the exhibition. As the title “Lightscape” suggests, it depicts light and landscape. According to Goethe’s color theory, darkness and light are two sides of the same coin that are essential to each other. Until now, Ikemura’s works have questioned the visible and the invisible. The coming and going of life, as well as light and darkness. This is an interaction between the destiny of the universe and Ikemura’s imagination. The darkness deepens towards the top of the work. As the intensity of gradation and vividness gradually diminished from extremely clear brightness of yellow to pink and amber, this work is left with a faint line of phosphorescence and faded away into the deep darkness. Alternatively, light descends from the depths of darkness.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

BERNARD FRIZE Coam: Year: 2002
Medium: acrylic and resin on canvas
Dimensions: 238.8 x 182.9 cm (93 3/4 x 72 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

A slightly greyish subdued screen is filled with vivid and bright colors that are typical of recent Frize’s works. The continuous grid-like structure on the large F200-sized screen gives a neat impression. Numerous colors are mixed and stretched up and down, seemingly random at first glance, but the same background color can be seen all the way from top right to bottom left. However, it looks like this because of its size that can be seen from a distance, and the color structure would not be consciously aware of when viewed up close. Upon a closer look, one’s attention is very likely to be captivated by the beauty of translucent colors, and the delicate transformation of gradations. The skillful manipulation of the artwork’s size, drawing techniques, colors, and screen composition all show the essence of Frize.

ARTIST LIST

BERNARD FRIZE Kova: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic, resin on canvas
Dimensions: 110 x 85 cm (43 1/4 x 33 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Perrotin, 2022

Compared to the calm, objective style of strokes and stripped grids that Frize has devoted much of his artistic career to, the wildness of his works from 2022 including this work, might seem a little abrupt. Although the vertically elongated strokes evoke reminiscences of Frize’s previous works, there is an irregular cluster of colors in the center that captures the gaze. In this rising cloud-like expression, there is a strong sense of movement and coincidence that is not often seen in Frize's earlier works. Like a hue circle, various colors from red to purple come together and seem to form a gentle whirlpool. As an artist in his 70s, Frize attempts to break away from the established and seeks to achieve a renewed evolution. His innovative spirit deserves this collection with contemporaneity as its thematic focus.

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MIKA TAJIMA Art d'Ameublement (Rutschey Yogansena): Year: 2022
Medium: spray acrylic, thermoformed PETG
Dimensions: 182.9 x 137.2 cm (72 x 54 in.)
Acquired from The Pace Gallery LLC, 2022

The “Art d'Ameublement” series can now be considered one of Tajima’s representative works, along with the jacquard weaving of “Negative Entropy”. The paint that sprayed inside the thermoformed transparent PETG resin box appears as if it has been sealed in a gaseous state. The title translates to “Furniture Art” in French, which is inspired by Erik Satie's “Furniture Music (Musique d'Ameublement)”. Just as Satie aimed for music that is “never intentionally heard”, Tajima may have created forms in this work of something that cannot be consciously seen. The unfamiliar noun in the subtitle is meant to be the name of an imaginary island. It is perhaps a place where an unknown island has trapped the air. The smooth and glossy work without sharp corners reminds the image of a balloon filled with gas. The subtle colors that adhere very thinly to the inner part of the work are so thoroughly dense and light that spray particles are visible up close. It gives an illusion that the colors inside will disperse now the work is removed from the wall. In the past, Marcel Duchamp displayed an empty glass ampoule as an artwork named “Air de Paris”, containing air from Paris. But was that really the air from Paris? Duchamp's work was not an expression of “not being recognized” like Satie's, but an expression of “unable to recognize” correctly by anyone. Similarly, the gas from the unknown island trapped within Tajima's work is also beyond our means to verify its nature. Thus, our only way to engage with it is through thinking and imagining- the intellectual activity that only human beings are allowed to have. This might indeed demonstrate a pure form of art.

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CHIHARU SHIOTA State of Being (Two Chairs): Year: 2012
Medium: two painted chairs, thread, steel frame
Dimensions: 180(h) x 160(w) x 77.2(d) cm (70 7/8 x 63 x 30 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

This is a piece from Chiharu Shiota's “State of Being” series. In Shiota's sculpture works, specific objects have been used repeatedly. Keys, dresses, books, boats, shoes, bags, etc., all objects are associated with human life and daily experiences. The chair is also one of those frequently used objects in her works. The two chairs are quietly nestled against each other in the extended twining threads. Shiota is often recognized as an artist who expresses “Presence in absence” in her art. Here, the familiar piece of daily furniture, the chair, has been stripped of its original function like its existence is suspended in midair. Observing these chairs, one cannot help but think of someone who used to spend their days with those chairs in the past who is no longer here. However, it is difficult to infer the past from analogy by the chairs which have been whited out completely. Therefore, it gives a strong sense of “absence” of something that should have been there, which in turn reminds us of its “presence”. It is believed that Shiota’s black threads represent the universe, while red threads represent the relationship between people. The white color that is trapped within is probably the color that serves as a place of acceptance for recognizing “existence”.

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KATHARINA GROSSE Untitled: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 201 x 155 cm (79 1/8 x 61 in.)
Acquired from Gagosian, 2022

Works created by spray guns can now be described as Grosse’s signature style. In this work, the artist places an ivy-like object on the canvas and then sprays it with colors. Like stencils or cyanotypes, the act of directly leaving traces of objects that have touched the painting surface is also supported by Grosse's previous works. By intensely spraying colors onto architecture and into spaces, Grosse's paintings have extended from a flat medium-like canvas into three-dimensional space. It has realized a physical immersion of the painting space for both the artist and the viewers. Grosse describes that painting is a screen between the viewers and the artist, where both parties can show their thoughts to each other. Painting serves as an interface for contemplation. Following this concept, the idea of painting as a screen does not necessarily have to be restricted by conventional paintings. Grosse chooses a new technique and form that is more suitable for the interaction between the artist and the viewers. In this work, the most assertive line elements in the composition are acquired through leaving traces, an almost non-painterly method. The misty colors create a vivid gradation by the angle and intensity of the spray. At the same time, the shadows of the lines are imprinted on the canvas. When those lines were torn away from the canvas, the paints were also torn off which then revealed as lively traces. This is different from painted lines. In the past, paintings were something that aimed to capture light widely in layers of paint. However, Grosse has left vivid shadows as traces in this work. Grosse stated that painting is a mutual exchange of thoughts. With that in mind, with the traces left in this work, what do we see and what thoughts should we share in return?

ARTIST LIST

GEORGE CONDO untitled: Year: 1984
Medium: oil on canvas, in artist’s frame
Dimensions: canvas size: 30.5 x 24.1 cm (12 x 9 1/2 in.) / frame size: 40 x 34 cm (15 3/4 x 13 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2023

Atop a hill, a towering edifice suddenly materializes with a white clown-like visage floating in its center. Could the orange candy-esque substance—appearing as if it could engulf the town at any second—possibly be his torso? Clouds appear to be hovering around the hill resembling a shelf, yet they exude a firm texture more liquid than gaseous. From the depths of the background, something akin to a smoke signal extends skyward, appearing like droplets flowing upwards instead of down, further accentuating the whimsicality within the painting. The artist himself also attached the artwork’s antiquated decorative frame. Within the realm of contemporary art, context holds great significance. Condo wields a profound knowledge of context, and harnesses it with ease, even toying with it at times, in a transgressive manner that interacts with the conventions of fine art. Such is the case in this work, where there are stylistic references to art movements of the past, including Surrealism, Realism, Post-impressionism or Symbolism, all presented in a similarly referential frame.

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LAUREN QUIN Third Belly: Year: 2021-2022
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 152.7 x 213.7 cm (60 1/8 x 84 1/8 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2023

The contrast between the thick, powerful orange “tubes” and the shredded blue-toned “tubes”, the yellow drawing lines, and the sharply carved, abstract multiple lines creates a dynamic interplay. Particularly, the contrastive use of orange and blue generates a visual effect that gives an illusion of depth from the front and back, allowing the viewer to imagine a painting space that is larger than the actual canvas size. As if blended within the intense movement created by the “tubes”, the yellow drawings come into sight and appear to be parts of a living organism or human fingers, yet they cannot be correctly identified. These yellow drawings are transferred from an extensive archive of drawings by mono-printing (a strong one-off printmaking technique). The same motifs are sometimes used across other works, which become repeated symbols that transcend the tangibleness of the individual works. In addition, the lines drawn by carving which the paints are stripped off, are colorless, but through the layers of paint, they unveil the hidden background colors to the drawing. These three elements combine to achieve a highly complex abstraction in Quin's works. Overlapping different natures, the elements repel each other resulting in an unnatural pictorial space reminiscent of the disharmony that occurs in 3DCG textures. Not only by colors but also by lines, Quin's works present new possibilities for abstract paintings through the contemporary pictorial space created by these extremely complex layers.

ARTIST LIST

DAMIEN HIRST Justice, from The Virtues (H9-1): Year: 2021
Medium: Laminated giclée print in colors, flush-mounted to aluminum with metal strainer on the reverse (as issued) contained in the original foam-lined cardboard packing box
Dimensions: 120 x 95.9 cm (47 1/4 x 37 3/4 in.)
Edition: No.546 of 1005
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

In the late ’80s, Hirst was regarded as the most radical and strategic artist among the YBAs (Young British Artists), a generation of artists who were taken up very often as provocateurs to the art market. He managed to maintain this attitude to this day and still attracts attention all over the world whenever he releases a shocking artwork. This work was displayed at his solo exhibition at The National Art Center, Tokyo and is a print based on a “handwritten” canvas that is very rare for Hirst. Although it is seen as a painting of cherry blossom, it is Hirst’s honest approach to confront painting his own handwork, which is something he has been avoided in the past. As the artist describes his nostalgia for his beloved grandmother as the psychological starting point, it can be said that this artwork has a rather emotional touch for Hirst. The trace of paint applied in scattered dots like droplets (it was practically drawn by throwing paint from afar), stands out vividly emerging on the blue sky. The dark branches and the rough deformation of this painting are suggestive of Van Gogh’s Flowering Plum Orchard (after Hiroshige).

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JULIAN OPIE Lucia, back 3: Year: 2017
Medium: Aluminum, nylon and lights
Dimensions: 120 x 91.6 x 9 cm ( 47 1/4 × 36 × 3 1/2 in.)
Acquired from MAHO KUBOTA GALLERY, 2022

Probably the pictures coming to one’s mind thinking of Opie are his portraits capturing facial expressions by simple lines and eyes drawn as dots or walking silhouettes. In fact, he also has several works of deformed landscapes or in which facial expressions are not shown. As Opie is described as the artist of simplification, he expresses his target models and scenes using thoroughly simplified lines and dots. However, as it is clear from the titles including names of specific people or cities, his works are honest interpretations of things that really exist, and do not play tricks of any kind at all. The model of this work is a woman facing backward. Her silent appearance drawn from her shoulder to her head gives viewers the opportunity to imagine various personalities. Opie is well known for observing the model extremely to details, especially when creating a work with a person as a motif. He takes countless photographs that are then verified in the graphics. As a result, only lines and slight coloring remains, and that is exactly what expresses something about the person so strongly.

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DAMIEN HIRST Untitled (Butterfly Spin Painting): Year: 2009
Medium: Acrylic and metallic paint on paper
Dimensions: 51.5 x 68.5 cm (20 3/8 x 27 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby's, 2022

This work was created to commemorate Hirst's retrospective exhibition "Requiem" held at the Pinchuk Art Center (Kyiv) in Ukraine in 2008. In this exhibition, Hirst created and exhibited a number of new “Spin Painting" works along with some of his early major works such as “A Thousand Years” and Formalin preserved shark titled “Death Explained”. This work was created by attaching canvas onto a hypnotic disc (multiple holes are visible in a fixed mode), dripping the paint upon the machine, then radically suffused with centrifugal explosions of vivid color. Hirst characteristically diverts specific motifs into his works. In one series insect specimens are embedded directly into the painting, and another series numerous butterfly wings are arranged into psychedelic patterns to resemble a rainbow or a kaleidoscope. It is, however, controversial that vivid life and death are shown in a dewy, grotesque manner yet concealed with vibrant colors at the same time. One of Hirst’s other allegories that evoke life and death is his recurring use of butterflies, as well as skulls and pills, thus can also be seen as vanitas.

ARTIST LIST

DAMIEN HIRST Untitled (Skull Spin Painting): Year: 2009
Medium: Acrylic and metallic paint on paper
Dimensions: 71 x 52 cm (28 x 20 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby's, 2022

This work was created to commemorate Hirst’s retrospective exhibition “Requiem”, held at Ukraine’s PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv) in 2008. Hirst produced multiple new “spin paintings” for display at this exhibition, alongside works such as his early masterpiece “A Thousand Years,” and “Death Explained,” in which a shark is soaked in formalin. To create these works, the artist attaches paper to a spinning machine (several pinholes can be seen, from when the paper was affixed to the machine), pours paint onto the spinning paper, and uses centrifugal force to spread the paint in a radial pattern. Hirst, an artist who is never out of the public eye for long, foreshadowed this work with “For the Love of God” (2007), an ethically challenging piece that involved implanting real human teeth into a skull made of platinum and diamonds (molded from a human skeleton). This sensational work was priced at about 12 billion Japanese yen at the time. The monetary value is entwined with the skull, symbolizing death, and diamonds, which represent desire and wealth—essentially, a vivid symbol of intense life. The inappropriate smile expresses the ideas of death and wealth associated with the skull, something only made possible by the fact that the work is by Hirst.

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GERHARD RICHTER Cage 1 (P19-1): Year: 2006/2020
Medium: Giclée print in colors, flush-mounted to aluminum with metal strainer on the reverse
Dimensions: 100 × 100 cm (39 3/8 × 39 3/8 in.)
Edition: #144 of 200
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

The original of this work was produced in 2006, a large-scale painting measuring 290x290 cm and was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2007. It is currently on a long-term loan at the TATE Modern in London. Most of Richter’s works are abstract pieces, often simply titled “Abstraktes Bild” (abstract painting). However, there are sometimes series created under specific titles. This work is one of the series of six works entitled “Cage”. The vivid colors stretched with a squeegee, which is often seen on Richter’s abstract works, is eye-catching. The title “Cage” does not mean a hutch or a birdcage, but comes from the name of John Cage. He is an American musician known for the monumental pieces of his experimental music such as “4’33” and “Chance Operations”. It is said that Richter worked on this piece while constantly playing Cage’s music in his studio.

ARTIST LIST

GERHARD RICHTER Abstraktes Bild (P1): Year: 1990/2014
Medium: chromogenic print, flush-mounted to aluminum with metal strainer on the reverse
Dimensions: 92 × 126 cm (36 1/4 × 49 5/8 in.)
Edition: #471 of 500
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

The original of this work was produced in 1990. It was used many times as a basis for Editions and Jacquard works, providing numerous variations. This work is particularly also the first piece of print production with HENI in 2014 (P1 means the first piece of Print), and was created in the original dimensions. This is the only “Abstraktes Bild” listed on Richter’s official website under the PRINT category, and is considered as one of the first masterpieces of the “Abstraktes Bild” that began production in 1990.

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MARK RYDEN Yakalina (Bistre): Year: 2021
Medium: bronze with patina
Dimensions: image: 105 x 43 x 33 cm (41 3/8 x 16 7/8 x 13 in.)
Acquired from PERROTIN, 2022

Nine statues of different colors called "Yakalina" were scuplted. “Bistre” in French means dark brown color. As an immediate follower of Lowbrow Art movement, Ryden is a pioneer of Pop Surrealism who plays a very prominent role in the history of Art. To interpret this work from the perspective of the artist’s background, there should not be a specific myth or religious aspect in mind but instead refer to a more ordinary and fictional sanctity such as Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu, a spirituality that exists only within a fictional framework. Ryden’s interest in natural history and his frequent referencing to the classics plays a large role, yet this work bears “resemblance” to the aesthetics of pseudo history. “Yakalina” raised its arms in a gesture of gentle welcome, is one of the “Anima Animals” (souls of Animals) Ryden refers to, perhaps as a symbol of the sanctity of Ryden’s mythology.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

MADSAKI Untitled: Year: 2019
Medium: spray paint, acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

MADSAKI depicted a scene from “Beavis and Butt-Head”, an animated comedy series for MTV in the 90s, which his other works had been repeatedly referenced to. Beavis (on the right when facing the painting) and his buddy Butt-Head. When Beavis consumes large quantities of sugar and becomes hyperactive, he undergoes a total personality change and transforms into Cornholio, who would cover his head with his T-shirt collar and speaks gibberish Spanish rapidly with an accent that is incomprehensive and eccentric. MADSAKI has lived in the US since childhood, and he drew whenever he had difficulties communicating in English. “Beavis and Butt-Head” is indeed a work of black humor. But in America, a multi-ethnic nation, people are expected to overcome language barriers by drawing, or to overcome other obstacles and survive through actions. The communication gap is also a social pathological phenomenon. Perhaps for MADSAKI, who probably watched this comedy on MTV in real time, this is familiar and nostalgic; though at the same time, it has a strong meaning as an icon of American culture shared by the artist’s generation.

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TAKASHI MURAKAMI x VIRGIL ABLOH Our Spot 1: Year: 2018
Medium: Acrylic on canvas mounted to aluminum
Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

The white “crossed arrow” logo, the symbol of Abloh’s brand Off-White, is drawn largely over the skull motif which Murakami frequently uses. The relationship of Abloh and Murakami was not only a collaboration, but a strong tie of mutual trust and friendship. Abloh mentioned Murakami in several interviews that he had an admiration for him since he was an intern in the architecture industry. The young Abloh was deeply influenced by Murakami, who was already a collaborator artist for Louis Vuitton back then. On the other hand, it is possible that Murakami also considered Abloh as a friend with whom they could deeply understand each other. Abloh was the only artist (besides Doraemon) that Murakami allowed to create work completely merging with his work rather than antagonizing each other.

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EDGAR PLANS Untitled (Artist): Year: 2019
Medium: spray paint, acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

One important element defining Plans’ immovable popularity is the “Animal Heroes” that appears in his paintings as his own spokesperson. These little heroes wear colorful masks and mantles, and scribble around with spray cans and chalks everywhere on floors and walls. While being innocent and cute, they also carry a sense of unease. Plan’s paintings are pop and light-hearted in content but employ very dramatic drawing techniques. Especially the contrast expression between light and dark seems to refer to the classical technique of chiaroscuro (a method of light and dark developed during the Renaissance and Baroque periods). In this work, from the shadow’s point of view, the contrast is between the joyous appearance of the “Animal Heroes” and the slightly scary figures of their shadows stretching across the wall. Furthermore, while the five people and two animals are in the same space, they do not make eye contact with each other. As indicated by the subtitle “Artist”, the word “Artist” is written in large letters in the painting. It includes the contrast between Plan’s loneliness and success as an artist that is sometimes compared and discussed alongside Basquiat and Twombly.

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RAFA MACARRON Los mentores: Year: 2013
Medium: mixed media on canvas
Dimensions: 194.9 x 130.2 cm (76 3/4 x 51 1/4 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

Macarrón is known for painting invented characters based on people he encounters and streets that he sees in everyday life. Learning the method of recognizing and expressing phenomena from the preceding Spanish maestros such as Goya, Picasso, Dalí, and Miró, he translates everyday life into paintings. This work is painted with bright dayglow-based colors that Macarrón favors, and the abstraction seem to rule over figuration in the bold composition of the picture. Up close, one can see the carefully drawn characters one by one, as well as the dynamic texture. Facial expressions and poses are greatly exaggerated, and by observing the work and imagining the personality and story of each character, one can almost hear the bustle of the city Macarrón saw and imagined.

ARTIST LIST

KOHEI NAWA Fountain: Year: 2022
Medium: mixed media
Dimensions: 157 x 205 x 52 cm (61 3/4 x 80 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.)
Acquired from OIL by Bijutsutecho, 2022

This work is an expression of the cycle of life. Various forms of sculptures are spread out from a spiral as if they are gushing out from a fountain. A closer look reveals that this work incorporates the essence in Nawa’s previous works, such as deer horns and a series of spheres. The fine fluffy surface gently disturbs the reflected light, creating a white, tranquil space around this work. The process of organism being decomposed and converted into the next life, Nawa returns to what he had been focused on in the past - the smallest unit of life - cell, and the thread of life is reconnected. Nawa's works remind us of the mysteries of life, the laws of nature, and his sculpture is being created as a reminder of acknowledging such fundamental elements.

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VIK MUNIZ Mona Lisa, after Leonardo da Vinci from Gordian Puzzles: Year: 2009
Medium: chromogenic print
Dimensions: 151.4 x 101.6 cm (59 5/8 x 40 in.)
Edition: #4 of 6
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

This work is one of the “Gordian Puzzles” series. It is based on “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, but the series also include works based on other famous paintings around the world such as “Guernica” (Picasso), “A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte” (Seurat), and “The Tower of Babel” (Bruegel). As the title “Gordian” suggests, it is a complicated work like an intricate puzzle entangled badly and unsolvable. Looking at the puzzle pieces closely, none of the cuts of adjacent pieces match. Despite this, the complete picture that is supposed to appear only upon completion of the assembly, is clearly visible. Multiple sets of puzzles with the same pattern were used.

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YAYOI KUSAMA Waves Washing Ashore: Year: 1978
Medium: enamel on paper
Dimensions: 27.2 x 24.2 cm (9 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

This is part of a series of enamel spray paintings on colored paper, produced by the artist in large numbers around 1978. Kusama published her first novel, “Manhattan Suicide Addict,” in the same year. She was living as an in-patient in Japan, suffering from mental and physical problems, having returned to the country after the death of her then-partner Joseph Cornell. This period also marked a major turning point for Kusama following her previously active lifestyle in New York, where she had even come to be referred to as the “Queen of Happenings.” Kusama had already gained recognition as a painter with her “Infinity Nets” series, this spray-painted series is a development of the net motif that has become synonymous with her name. The three colors affixed to the support through the mesh of netting fold over one another in a hallucinatory manner, depicting the expansive vision of Kusama’s mind even in this diminutive work. The work gives an insight into why Kusama’s nets are given the prefix “infinity.”

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ANDY WARHOL Jane Fonda (F. & S. II. 268): Year: 1982
Medium: silk screen, Framed
Dimensions: 100.3 x 80 cm (39 1/2 x 31 1/2 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

Jane Fonda (F. & S. II. 268) is a work from Andy Warhol’s representative “Portrait” series. The photograph is transferred using a silkscreen technique, and the combination of various colors evokes a pop yet compelling presence. The work conveys the sophisticated beauty of famous Hollywood actress Jane Fonda who serves as its model. While Warhol produced portraits of celebrities and iconic figures the times, in the 1980s he also worked on commissioned portraits of ordinary people (wealthy patrons). It is no exaggeration to say that the images of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, and Mao Zedong are now imprinted in our minds in association with the images of Warhol's portraits. The large number of portraits that he produced between the 1960s and 1980s are indeed in themselves “portraits” of an era.

ARTIST LIST

VIK MUNIZ Flowers and Fruits, after Pierre Auguste Renoir (Series from Pictures of Magazines 2): Year: 2013
Medium: digital C-print
Dimensions: 123.4 x 101.6 cm (39 3/8 x 4 x 11 7/8 in.)
Acquired from nca | nichido contemporary art, 2022

“Pictures of Magazines” is a series of photographs of collages made from magazine cutouts. Muniz takes masterpieces from the history of painting as motifs and magnificently reproduces their chromatic and tactile characteristics. This work is a treatment of Renoir still life painting from 1889. Renoir painted numerous still life paintings, and this particular work features fiery red flowers (perhaps gladioli) arranged in an elegant blue ceramic vase. Fresh fruits are set on a white cloth, and brushstrokes of a somewhat Impressionistic style can be seen in the subdued green background. It is from the 1880s that Renoir started to move away from Impressionism and shift toward a Neoclassical style. In this work, Muniz may have deliberately chosen as his subject matter a painting from the transitional period that led to the unique style of Renoir’s final years. The subtle touch found in Renoir’s paintings from this period, neither his distinctive hazy brushwork nor the colorful expression of the Impressionist style, is captured with extraordinary skill in collage. When viewed up close, the humorous approach to collage—freely using photographic material that is completely unexpected in the context of the work’s overall atmosphere—gives a strong sense of the mischievous perfection typical of Muniz.

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VIK MUNIZ MASP (The boy, Camille Roulin, after Van Gogh): Year: 2016
Medium: digital C-print
Dimensions: 121.9 x 101.6 cm (48 x 40 in.)
Acquired from nca | nichido contemporary art, 2022

The title “MASP” is an abbreviation for the Museu de Arte de São Paolo, the art museum whose collection includes the painting on which this work is based—Van Gogh’s “The Schoolboy (The Postman’s Son – Gamin au Képi)” of 1888. Van Gogh left many portraits of the Roulin family, who lived nearby during his time in Arles. They were the ones who watched over the unstable Van Gogh after he cut off his ear when the attempt to live together with Gauguin fell apart. Joseph Roulin (known in particular as the model for “Postman Joseph Roulin”), was one of the few friends Van Gogh, who struggled with social interactions, could ask to model for him. This work is part of the “REPRO” (reproduction) series, based on a painting that depicts Camille, the second son in the Roulin family. In this series, Muniz collects images from various media, including books related to the work being reproduced, and uses them to create collages. With this specific work, it seems that Muniz has collected portrait images from artworks spanning various historical periods and places of origin. By examining the details, viewers may be surprised by the works from which fragments have been taken.

ARTIST LIST

ULALA IMAI ギャザリング / Gathering: Year: 2017
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 38 x 45.5 cm (15 x 18 in.)
Acquired from a private collection, 2022

“Gathering” is becoming Imai’s most representative series. The artist’s first collection of works also has the same title. In fact, she collects figurines and stuffed animals and accurately captures the scenes in her works. Imai displayed an assembly of characters from her grandmother’s overseas travels on a shelf, which she once marked as the very first inspiration of “Gathering”. The act of arranging objects is directly related to displaying exhibits for artists. To exhibit artwork, it is necessary to clearly express what to display and how. Even though Imai’s grandmother may not have a purpose or an intention to exhibit the toys, it is interesting to perceive the array of toys as a party and enjoyable to figure out the relationship to each other. This must have some sort of connection to Imai’s artistic sensibilities today.

ARTIST LIST

ULALA IMAI KOALA 6: Year: 2020
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 24.2 x 33.3 cm (9 1/2 x 13 1/8 in.)
Acquired from a private collection, 2022

Imai has several favorite recurring motifs, as seen from the series such as “Toast”, “Avocado”, and “Gathering” etc. “Koala” is also a motif that is repeatedly portrayed. She seems to be depicting a particular stuffed animal every time. The claws of its hands and feet are attached with Velcro, allowing it to hold on to a rod or other objects like a very common toy. It is hard for artists to project special feelings when depicting mundane subjects. To Imai, however, who was born with severely impaired hearing, she relies on her eyes to perceive the world. She probably comprehends more information by observing things than others do. Here depicted a nothing unusual koala stuffed animal with an innocent, silly expression starring forward, makes the viewers wonder what kind of signs Imai was reading and what has touched her. Perhaps due to the light effects, a dark shadow fell right next to its wide-open left eye, and the expression looks slightly tense, as if it was scared. The depiction of the eyes of a stuffed animal indeed conveys a strong gaze with emotions that cannot be expressed in words in this painting.

ARTIST LIST

RAFA MACARRON Sin título(cosmos): Year: 2015
Medium: mixed media on aluminum, PVC
Dimensions: 186 x 296 cm (72 x 116 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2022

This work is extremely large in scale. Macarrón depicts casts of peculiar, deformed characters in his works. Though this work particularly exhibits its contrasting properties as he depicts relatively small characters on an enormous canvas. Each character is unique despite the large-scale canvas. Macarrón had obviously been meticulously plotting each character's personality, facial expression, posture, role, and all other aspects while depicting. In terms of the composition, this work portrays countless characters drifting from a planet towards a celestial body which seems to be a red asteroid. When viewed from a distance, it looks as if a giant plant is growing branches and leaves. Comical scenes are unraveled here and there throughout the painting, exemplifying Macarrón’s typical bustle worldview. It is also particularly noteworthy that the figuration of the characters is enhanced. The upper portion of this work is entirely covered with the red celestial body, appearing as if it has been extracted from the body of an asteroid. In addition, several deformed craters are depicted on the blue planet at the bottom of the work and developed into deep pockets. As one peek through, one will discover that several mysterious characters are concealed within.

ARTIST LIST

AKI KONDO Summer Candies: Year: 2016
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 90 x 65 cm (35 3/8 x 25 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Shugo Arts, 2022

This work depicts vivid warm-toned flowers against a deep blue background. The flowers are in full bloom with large petals, yet their lives are fleeting. Kondo has created numerous flower-themed works. Offering of flowers, flowers for celebrations, or casually decorating flowers for a dining table. When people pick flowers, the meaning behind this act differs from one another, but the flowers that Kondo depicts suggest the relationship with the “companion” that lies beyond. Since flowers bloom for prosperity and as an act of connecting life, Kondo discovers the theme of “living” within flowers. To live, one must engage with others and the world around them.

ARTIST LIST

AKI KONDO アニエス (Agnes): Year: 2013
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 227.5 x 182 cm (89 1/2 x 71 5/8 in.)
Acquired from Shugo Arts, 2022

The expression of soft and flowing hair draws one’s attention. Several hands are grasping the hair and fabric, and a huge sewing scissor showing a freezing cold impression, stands out from the painting. Kondo is known for depicting “To be Alive” as a theme. In this work, hair, the part of the human body that reveals the most conspicuous visible change, is treated as a symbol of life. To be alive is also to be forced to change constantly. During the time from birth to death, aging, illness, and growth from child to adult, our body and mind never stop changing, regardless of one’s will. Fabrics are woven from threads. If we assume that fiber is a metaphor for hair (life), the hands that grasp it, the scissors that are stacked on top, and the significance of needle and thread all seem to be connected to death and life. The two hands grasping the fabric intertwined their index fingers with each other’s, but one finger is blue. The woman is proudly showing off her rich hair and touches her cheek with her strong hands. Her face looks somewhat pale, and her neck is like the petals of a white lily. Such ambiguous depiction seems to suggest that life is both powerful and at the same time, is dangerously fragile. This work was exhibited at the exhibition “Paintings Here and Now”, at Fuchu Art Museum, Tokyo in 2018.

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KATHARINA GROSSE o.T.: Year: 2013
Medium: Acrylic on aluminium and linen
Dimensions: 72 x 80 x 144 cm (28 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 56 3/4 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

Grosse liberates colors and paintings from the canvas, and presents large-scale paintings in three dimensions, which are also exhibited outdoors. “Colors” suddenly emerge besides buildings such as Museum Kunstpalast (Düsseldorf) and the Bonn Museum, giving the impression as if her works have been placed there by some giant. This work, created by applying acrylic paint to an aluminum surface, can be described as a “painted sculpture of color.” The vivid three-dimensional painting with its highly pronounced edges, serves to transform the space.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

YOKO MATSUMOTO 振動する風景的画面 / Landscape-Like Surface Vibrates: Year: 2017
Medium: oil, oil pastel, charcoal on canvas
Dimensions: 200 x 250 cm (78 3/4 x 98 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Hino Gallery, 2022

This work is unquestionably the largest and finest within Yoko Matsumoto’s “Green” series, which has been ongoing since 2005. Thinly painted white lines emerge in the light on a large surface. The title includes the word “vibrates,” and indeed, the white lines waver horizontally while the surface’s overall movement evokes a sense of verticality. Although people may have different impressions of the color green depending on their nationality and region, what else can one feel but a sense of the sublime when viewing the boundless painting filled with green? Matsumoto explains that green is a color of “long-held desires”. The title, “Landscape-Like Surface Vibrates,” has occasionally been used for her other works in the past. The artist’s entire spirit vibrates to abstract the “landscape,” which one cannot view or touch, and represent it on the canvas. The work was lent out from this collection for the exhibition “Passport to Shangri-La” at the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, where pairs of works by contemporary artists were juxtaposed with the collection pieces. In the exhibition, this work was exhibited alongside a work by Japanese painter Shunso Hishida, who passed away at a young age but was praised throughout his life by Taikan Yokoyama for his unparalleled talent.

ARTIST LIST

YOKO MATSUMOTO 熱帯 / The Tropics: Year: 2021
Medium: oil, oil pastel, charcoal on canvas
Dimensions: 130 x 194 cm (51 1/8 x 76 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Hino Gallery, 2022

This work shows the most recent developmental elements of Matsumoto’s “Green” series. In previous “Green” works, green was mainly used as the color surface and with overlapping line drawings with colors such as pastel white and blue, expressing a dynamism different from brush strokes. Perhaps due to the effect of these lines, the painting space on the canvas is distorted, and even looks like shaking trees rustling in a deep forest. In this work, the colors of blue and orange that glimpse through the gaps come out vividly. Particularly the orange has a strong presence as an opposite color in the green, making it very much different from other works. It is filled with energy reminiscent of a robust sprout growing vertically from the bottom. Matsumoto’s “Tropical” is a peristalsis movement of life and color. Her solo exhibition scheduled in May 2021 (Nihombashi Takashimaya Art Gallery X) was canceled due to the spread of Covid-19 and was finally held in November after being postponed for half a year. This work was displayed in the center as the main piece of the exhibition.

ARTIST LIST

KEI IMAZU Asyura: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 100 x 80 cm
Acquired from Anomaly, 2022

The oil painting on canvas is based on a preliminary collage created by through her characteristic technique of assembling and editing digital images in multiple layers. The image of the Asyura is transformed into something chaotic, disturbing and unsettling through the intermixture of brushstrokes and other various imagery. Such means of depiction also appears to emphasize Asyura’s origins as the god of war, as well as its surreal and irregular stature. In itself an exemplification of Imazu’s strengths as an artist, the complex yet perspicuous painting serves to reflect the vast sea of information on the internet and the overabundance of imagery that surrounds us, and the vague and uncertain nature of our current times.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

KEI IMAZU Orange Desert on Blue Sheet: Year: 2009
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 116.8 x 91 cm (46 x 35 7/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

At the time this work was painted, Imazu was intuitively gathering various images online, from magazines and other sources, composing them as rough sketches on the computer while working. The intuitively selected images have no contextual relationship to each other. If unrelated objects were simply drawn together, a story might therefore emerge as a painting. Like a child overturning a toy box, Imazu must have looked at the piles of randomly collected images, imagined their meanings which should not have been attached, and fantasized about a story that connects those meanings she created. At the end of an orange-burned desert, there is a palm tree. The blue color surrounded by rich flowers and grasses like an oasis is a blue sheet. A high-pressure washer, a cow, and various containers are scattered around. The three standing girls are dressed in completely different styles, and they do not even look at each other. With everything scattered while awkwardly gathered, the world somehow manages to maintain its form. This absurd but harmless humor makes one break into a smile.

ARTIST LIST

MAKIKO KUDO 謎の楽器を手に入れた / I Got a Mysterious Instrument: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on wallpaper
Dimensions: 34.2 x 17.5 cm (13 1/2 x 6 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2022

The work is drawn on roughly cut wallpaper. The support not being canvas lends itself to a dense depiction that makes the viewer doubt if it’s a drawing. For Kudo, drawing signifies something more improvisational than its original meaning as linework; it points to the general act of creating work that is simpler than a tableau. In a past interview, Kudo describes how her practice is an extension of her childhood days when she used to draw pictures on the streets and the back of flyers, and how things have not changed ever since. In this work, a girl stands still while holding a brass instrument shaped like a trombone. As the title “mysterious instrument” suggests, this is likely her first time holding it, therefore she holds it so awkwardly. Her pink clothes and the yellow instrument stand out against the blue and green background. Although this instrument does not seem to make any sound, one can almost hear the comforting sound of the paintbrush running smoothly on the wallpaper from the relaxed appearance of the thinned oil paint.

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MAKIKO KUDO 夜の明かり / Night Lights: Year: 2019
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 227.3 x 181.8 cm (89 1/2 x 71 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2022

Plum blossoms bloom around February, during the harsh cold of winter. They are also known as “Hyakka no Sakigake,” or “the harbinger of a hundred flowers.” They announce spring is around the corner, taking their time to blossom and emanating their aroma. In Makiko Kudo’s monograph, “Reborn as Air,” she reflects on this work and writes that she loved seeing plum blossom trees at night. During this season, the nights are cold, and the piercing air comes forth from the surface of the painting. A pale blue figure walks between the red and white plum blossoms, with a rooster on their head for some inexplicable reason. The red and white plum blossoms slightly warm the winter night’s icy landscape with a subtle pink hue. If plum blossoms are flowers that signify the heralding of early spring, the rooster is the bird that announces the dawn with its crowing. Although the figure’s expression remains tense and stiff, surely entertaining the vague hope that the long winter and dark nights will soon end, it will gradually break into a smile with the arrival of spring.

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HIROSHI SUGIMOTO Manatee: Year: 1994
Medium: gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 42.2 x 54.3 cm (16 5/8 x 21 3/8 in.)
Edition: No. 8 of 25
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

Among Sugimoto’s important early works is a series called “Dioramas,” which began with the artist capturing exhibited works at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as if they were actual landscapes. As part of the series, this work likely depicts an exhibited specimen from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, featuring a manatee parent and child. Although this is partly due to the high quality of the diorama itself, if one were to look at Sugimoto’s work without prior knowledge, one would mistakenly assume that the photograph captures a pleasant scene from the ocean. Documented with the precision and vividness characteristic of a large format camera with 8 x 10-inch film, the resolution’s exactitude is more pronounced than the similar “Theaters” and “Seascapes” series. Sugimoto’s expression magically imbues life into inanimate things would also lead to the “Portraits” series featuring wax figures. The “Dioramas” series led to Sugimoto being represented by New York’s legendary Sonnabend Gallery. In addition, this series also gained recognition from John Szarkowski, MoMA’s renowned curator of photography in the 70s, leading to the museum adding it to the collection. Within the context of art history, Szarkowski played an extraordinarily significant role in propelling the status of photography as art; the fact that Szarkowski, with his discerning eye, praised the work is evidence that the photography of the then-emerging Sugimoto possessed value as art due to the skill and aesthetic sense that he had already developed.

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CHIHARU SHIOTA Quarantine in Shanghai: Year: 2021
Medium: water-soluble wax pastel, ink, thread on paper
Dimensions: 20 x 25 cm (7 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.)
Acquired from KENJI TAKI GALLERY, 2022

This work is one of a series of drawings created at where Shiota stayed in Shanghai when she was experiencing a long period of quarantine for an exhibition in 2021. The same series consecutively shows several motifs, including beds resembling a hotel room, her own limbs, chairs, windows, a crowd and house, etc. In this particular work, there are about 10 people gathered closely together. Suppose that people gather in the middle of the strict measures, it could represent the scene of an inspection or decontamination activities. Confronted the fact that people have kept a distance from each other due to the pandemic, Shiota probably would not have felt nothing about it. Shiota’s work often uses red-dyed threads, which directly imitate the vascular tissue within the body, but at the same time they are also threads of a metaphor for blood ties and destiny. The meaning of red threads is carried over into this work as well. The several extending black threads that link between the chests of several individuals and the netlike depictions with red ink are all spreading out from the only person drawn at the center with a red outline. Perhaps it is representing the hope that even people cannot touch each other, their hearts can still be connected.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

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CHIHARU SHIOTA Quarantine in Shanghai: Year: 2021
Medium: water-soluble wax pastel, ink, thread on paper
Dimensions: 20 x 25 cm (7 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.)
Acquired from KENJI TAKI GALLERY, 2022

Two beds placed side by side. The “Quarantine in Shanghai” series, including this work, are drawings created based on Shiota’s actual experience. During the winter of 2021, when strict infection control measures were in place, Shiota spent her quarantine period in a hotel room in Shanghai and created a number of drawings depicting the interior of the room during that time. The bed placed towards the back remained being made neatly. Shiota probably slept in the closer one which is overlaid with red depictions. The netlike red depictions appear to be extending from the bed to the wall, spreading into the room, as if to show that Shiota’s body had been lying there until just recently. The black threads extend from the bed, as if to evoke the presence of the invisible body, aim towards the bright window, perhaps in search of relief.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

CHIHARU SHIOTA 宇宙とつながる / Connected to the Universe: Year: 2021
Medium: water-soluble wax pastel, ink, thread on paper
Dimensions: 27 x 37 cm (10 5/8 x 14 1/2 in.)
Acquired from KENJI TAKI GALLERY, 2022

The theme of the universe often appears in Shiota's work. She repeatedly expresses that the threads represent the universe, blood and the heart-to-heart connection. In this work, there are threads connecting two people facing each other. The title "Connecting with the Universe" implies that for Shiota, the universe also includes the meaning of internal universe of the human being, such as the soul and spirit. The threads that connect people to each other may at the same time represent the mutual connection of people to people, universe to universe. In Shiota's drawings, bubble-like depictions of webs spouting from people or ships can sometimes be seen. But in this work, they surround the figures. The lines and threads drawn by Shiota do not only connect A and B in a linear fashion, but rather bypass various obstacles and difficulties, and encompasses the whole while being intricately intertwined. Theis relates to Shiota’s installation works, where threads are multiplied and overlapped to create complex web. It also may be related to the fact that she often uses inclusive models such as fruit bunches and internal organs in her sculptures like glass works.

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MAKIKO KUDO Virus: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on handkerchief
Dimensions: 26 x 27.3 cm (10 1/4 x 10 3/4 in.)
Acquired from Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2022

Kudo's works gently mingle with the boundary between daily life and painting. In this work, she has chosen a handkerchief which was given by her mother as a support when cleaning her brushes. Although Kudo lives with cats and they often appear in her paintings, in this work, the design of lovely black cats on the handkerchief adds a heartwarming touch. However, the figure depicted is facing straight ahead with eyes opened, and the profile looks somewhat stiff. The title is “Virus”. The dotted black cats with other designs printed on the handkerchief seem to be a metaphor for the invisible threat that is waiting to spread and rage against humans. This work was created in 2022, and at the time of its release, the world was still under the ongoing threat from COVID-19, and fighting against it was a critical issue for humans. Many artists expressed their works in their way as a social commentary or as wishes and prayers. Kudo created a few works of handkerchiefs, including this one, which were exhibited in galleries and museums, often hung on ropes as if they were laundry, swaying lightly in the air.

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CHIHARU SHIOTA 存在様態 (髑髏) / State of Being (Skull): Year: 2015
Medium: metal frame, red thread, skull model
Dimensions: 50 x 25 x 25 cm (19 5/8 x 9 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.)
Acquired from KENJI TAKI GALLERY, 2022

“State of Being” is considered one of the most important series in Shiota's works. Various objects are enclosed inside a rectangular metal frame, with the objects being held in the hollow space by monochromatic threads of red, white, black, and other colors. This work combines Shiota’s signature red threads and a skull which symbolizes her consistent theme of death and life. It is believed that the term “State of Being” is taken by Shiota from linguistic theory and philosophical terminology. In Ontology that Descartes, Spinoza and other philosophers have discussed, existence is described by the distinctions between “substance”, “attribute” and “mode”. The condition of transformed absolute “substance” is “attribute”, while the condition of “substance” in which takes on some kind of particularity is “mode”. What is expressed in Shiota's “State of Being” series is a manifestation of (state of) how it exists (being) and the condition in which a thing acquires its specificity through its being is captured as a model. By using a skull as vanitas symbol, this artwork prompts each individual viewer to contemplate their own “mode” of death and life.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

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MISHECK MASAMVU The Power of Running Away: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 238 x 285 cm (93 3/4 x 112 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Goodman Gallery, 2022

This artwork is one of the four works featured at the Aichi Triennale 2022, which was created during the global lockdown. For Masamvu, an artist whose paintings constantly employ issues on social oppression and distress as motifs, the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the turmoil towards the Zimbabwean and has left an enormous impact on his works. The painting is filled with strong and vibrant colors and brushstrokes expressing the artist’s struggle, as if forcefully releasing the society conflict. Overlapping layers on the canvas exhibits intense energy, progressively obscuring the bottom layers. Masamvu’s paintings are both abstract and figurative. As one got used to these vibrant brushstrokes, the outlines of human figures emerged from the depths of the painting. The viewer’s attention is directed to the particularly white mass gathered among the impasto colors in the relatively central area of the painting. Outlines of human figures are faintly depicted by red lines in the white background. Although obscured, these may be traces depicting several human figures in postures of bending or sitting positions. This work, entitled “The Power of Running Away”, strongly implies the artist’s stance towards paintings. Literally “flee” from the uncontrollable, yet it could also be interpreted as “moving forward”, rather than holding back. As the philosophy of “Line of flight” described by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari - to take a detour route to avoid the difficulties and to try to carve out a new future, which is also an attempt Masamvu’s brushstrokes demonstrated and aimed for.

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MARTIN CREED Work No. 1392: Year: 2012
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 35.5 x 28 cm (14 x 11 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

The equation “the whole world + the work = the whole world” said by Creed, and the scope of this artist's work is vast and unfathomable. Undoubtedly, Creed is conscious of the context of the history of painting when he draws, but in fact it is nothing more than to just show a lightness of extracting and arranging its essence. In this work, the basic colors of red, yellow, blue, and green, as well as their intermediate colors are being layered like a rainbow (too rough to describe as a rainbow). There is no intention to showcase a color composition through stripes or compositions. If one were to point out distinctive features, it would be the strong horizontal strokes and the brightness of colors. Creed's works are sometimes described as Conceptual Art or Abject Art. As genres, they are at the opposite extremes, yet Creed covers both sides effortlessly. The more elusive a work like this is, the more difficult it becomes to find out the answer to which aspect of Creed's creativity has expressed. However, it can rather be said that the real pleasure of Creed's work is in accepting and confronting these difficulties.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

MIKA TAJIMA Negative Entropy (TAE Pulse Power Capacitor, Black, Single): Year: 2017
Medium: cotton, wood, acoustic baffling felt
Dimensions: 93.7 x 67 cm (36 7/8 x 26 3/8 in.)
Acquired from TARONASU, 2022

本作は田島の代表作シリーズにあたる「Negative Entropy」の「Single」、つまり音形パターンを一組のみ使用した作品となる。ある特定の場所において発せられる環境音や機械音などを録音した音源データを可視化したスペクトログラムを織物の図案としている。ジャカード織は上糸と下糸を上げ下げして複雑な図案を作る。古くはパンチングカードによってプログラムされ、現代ではデジタルデータによってコントロールされている。田島の耳に届く音は目に見えないものであったはずだが、それを収録してデジタル音声に変換し、さらにスペクトログラムとして視覚情報化するという多重の転換を経て、最終的には織物となって描出されていくのである。織物という技術はおそらくは文字よりも歴史が古く、現代に至るまで人類の生活の基礎を支え続けている。田島はこれまでも一貫して自身を含む人類と物資やエネルギーの関係性、人間の意識や社会の変遷についてを表現しており、その観点において、織物という原始的技術に立ちかえることは必然性があると言える。黒を基調としていることはタイトルから想像されるが、スペクトログラムの波形が左右の黄色と青色とに掠れていく様子が目を惹き付ける美しい作品である。

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MAKIKO KUDO 熱いアスファルトにねころがるのも好きだったけれど / I Also liked Lying Down on the Hot Pavement: Year: 2018
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 227.8 x 181.8 cm (89 3/4 x 51 5/8 in.)
Acquired from Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2022

This is a typical artwork of Kudo – the entire composition is formed by an intricate depiction of animals, plants, and human beings. In the center of the painting, surrounded by a cluster of large plants, human beings and animals are being depicted in a composition resembling an isosceles triangle. A girl lying with a cat, a boy sleeping next to a lion, a girl lying languidly on a daybed, a leopard, and a girl standing confidently in the back; all created a mysterious space evoking a pyramid-like hierarchy structure rather than traditional depth. The plants with branches and leaves spreading from the invisible area at the bottom part of the work, intentionally create an ambiguity and make the audience wonder whether the plant is in the foreground or in the lower part of the painting. As the title suggests, the grayish blue background which presumably represents asphalt ground, seems to be visible from the sky, creating an illusion of the motifs floating in the air. While the animals and figures occasionally gazed out, it is obvious that the motifs are facing the audience, intensifying the frontal aspect rather than the depth. The sheer presence of the person subtly fleeing on the left shoulder is depicted in the upper left corner of the work, which ingeniously corresponds with the lively standing figure in the middle of the work. The insignificant plants, which were supposedly tiny weeds, are portrayed as huge prickly pear cactus. Such an absurd and bewildering yet intriguing world perhaps belongs to the dream of the lounging figure.

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AKI KONDO いたいのいたいのとんでいけ / Pain, Pain, Go Away: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 162 x 130.3 cm (63 3/4 x 51 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Shugo Arts, 2022

Kondo states that painting is a way of life. As if to celebrate living, Kondo has continued to depict a world filled with love through striking, intense colors and brush strokes in her recent works. In this piece, two children of different races and genders gently hold each other. Judging from the title, it might imply that one of them is physically or mentally wounded and the other is attempting to heal them, or perhaps the care is mutual. However, this cannot be determined from the painting alone. Perhaps the source of sadness or pain has already gone away; neither child’s gaze is downcast nor clouded with sadness, and their cheeks subtly hint at a smile. The arms with which they wrapped around each other are soft, and their hands possess a certain firmness. Their clear, forthright gaze pierces viewers’ hearts. If only we could live like this, embracing and cherishing each other.

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AKI KONDO They are smiling for you 12: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 45.5 x 53 cm (17 7/8 x 20 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Shugo Arts, 2022

Flowers in full bloom face directly towards the viewers. From the Manyo era, it was often said that “flowers smile”, and as this expression suggests, the sight of a blossoming flower often evokes a smile from a close one. At the core of Kondo’s artworks always lies a deep sense of love and tenderness towards others. In this work, the featured flowers seem to be Gerbera Daisies judging from their appearance. In addition to Kondo’s characteristic powerful, almost sculptural brushstrokes, this work provides a striking impression through its bright color composition. The artist does not hesitate to use complementary colors, with central blue disks surrounded by yellow petals, and deep green leaves against a bright pink background. As the words “smiling for you” suggest, the flowers seem to be smiling with all their robust vitality, not only to Kondo the artist but towards “you.” Just as gifting flowers to someone symbolizes a celebration of that person, the series “They are smiling for you,” including this work, surely encapsulates Kondo’s warm wishes.

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OSCAR MURILLO manifestation: Year: 2020-2022
Medium: oil, oil stick, graphite and spray paint on canvas and linen
Dimensions: 115.6 x 120.7 cm/ 45 1/2 x 46 1/2 inches
Acquired from David Zwirner, 2022

Throughout his career as an artist, Murillo has travelled around the world, producing works based on his sustained and evolving investigation of notions of community. However, since March 2020, under the circumstances of the corona virus pandemic, he has been creating artworks in his hometown in Colombia while also being involved in humanitarian activities. This work is from Murillo’s Manifestation series, painted in 2021 around the same period in which he had witnessed the mass protests in Colombia and the violence conducted by state authority in order to contain them. Its ground composed of a collage of works that encompass different locations, culture, and times is saturated with pigment, upon which the artist transfers the gestures and traces of his body through a technique he refers to as “downloading energy.” He then applies further layers onto the work’s surface using richly colored oil bars to add dense and vibrant passages of color in thick strokes, resulting a dynamic yet compellingly complex painting. It is both a “witness to the tribulations brought about by the pandemic” and a manifesto declaring resistance to threats towards human dignity.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

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DANIEL ARSHAM Still Life with Eroded Bust of Diana the Huntress, Sneaker and Porsche: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 152.4 x 127 cm (60 x 50 in.)
Acquired from Perrotin, 2022

This work is from Arsham’s debut series of oil paintings. Despite depicting content consisting of contemporary objects, the style follows the genre of typical still-life painting. The goddess of Diana from Roman mythology (Artemis in Greek mythology), Nike sneakers, a Porsche model, an apple, a catalog from the design company Nendo, a withered bouquet of flowers – all elements rendered in blue, with sepia and gray accentuating the rest. These hues perhaps symbolize the colors within Arsham’s vision, influenced by his color blindness. Guided by Arsham’s intent, viewers interpret according to the order and colors depicted in this painting - specifically the blue objects, followed by the sepia-toned playing cards, hourglass, the fallen bottle, and the beaker. Diana signifies three aspects in the celestial world, on earth and hell: moon, chastity, and magic. The apple is a symbol of original sin, and books symbolize knowledge and learning. The Porsche presumably symbolizes wealth and success. The most emphasized element in this work might be the withering flowers. The composition of this work must have been a vanitas as the transience of life and death is depicted. Skull, which is popular to be included in vanitas, and withered flowers have a direct symbolic imagery of death. Life is limited and one must engage in hard work due to original sin. A 9 of clubs playing card is depicted in the center of the painting, which signifies intellectual inquisitiveness and anxiety in Western fortune telling. This work is Arsham’s original aesthetic of “Fictional Archeology”. To comprehend this work as a whole, the audience must interpret the allegory of the contemporaneity and fictitious characteristics in Arsham’s still life painting presented as vanitas.

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TEAMLAB Waves of Light: Year: 2018
Medium: four-channel digital work, continuous Loop
Dimensions: 121.4 x 274 cm (47 3/4 x 107 7/8 in.) overall
Acquired from Pace Gallery, 2022

This artwork is created in accordance with a flat drawing method that differs from the Western drawing perspective, which teamLab defines as “Ultrasubjective Space”. In the perspective composition, which is based on observing from a fixed viewpoint, the space converges towards a vanishing point that exists at the back of the painting. In other words, the painting neglects the actual expansiveness of space and instead converges upon a narrow space, creating an illusion of spatial depth. In contrast, teamLab's works inherit a different spatiality seen in much of East Asian art, rather than following the Western perspective. While Western paintings carry a sense of direction that moves towards the back or the front, East Asian art, especially Japanese scroll paintings, emphasize space and time based on a scrolling and horizontally moving viewpoint. For instance, the spatial representation of “fukinuki yatai” as seen in scroll paintings, is often explained theoretically as oblique or axial projection. However, because there is no distortion towards the depth, the frontality can always be maintained no matter where the viewpoint moves. In this work, viewers are overwhelmed by the dynamic spatial representation of the raging waves rising up and then strongly pulling back, but the waves are not moving from the back to the front, they are indeed always developing in a horizontal direction which aligns with the horizontally shifting viewpoint of scroll paintings. As a result, by standing in front of this large screen, viewers can always feel the movement of the waves head on while moving their viewpoint freely from side to side. In other words, a virtual space of the same scale as reality expands behind the display, reproducing the same experience of glancing through a window. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the depiction of waves is illustrated in a combination of lines, which is a representation following the very East Asian “sight”. In Western art, the expression of water is usually captured from a dynamic perspective in terms of texture and volume, which can be understood by looking at Courbet’s dramatic depiction of the approaching raging waves. Whereas in East Asia, it is obvious as in Hokusai's example which rain, rivers and waves are often depicted from a static perspective emphasizing form and lines, resembling high-speed photography. teamLab reinterprets depictions of the picturesque space and time utilizing cutting-edge technology.

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MATTHEW DAY JACKSON WHJ Waterfall: Year: 2022
Medium: wood, oil paint, epoxy, acrylic paint, urethane plastic, lead, geode, stainless steel frame
Dimensions: 184.2 x 148 x 5.1 cm (72 1/2 x 58 1/4 x 2 in.)
Acquired from Pace Gallery, 2022

The artist's works are as if there is no specific style, and in each presentation, he manipulates a different form and different concept in an ever-changing way. In this work, the view of a waterfall is formed on a hard stainless-steel frame, and the viewers will be overwhelmed by its material peculiarity when examined up close. The paint-like surface is composed of lead, agate and a wide variety of other materials, which are meticulously combined to form the landscape like a sophisticated puzzle. The title which seems to have a profound meaning, is not a cipher. But it can be assumed that WHJ are the initials of William Henry Jackson (1843-1942), a renowned landscape photographer in the American West. The composition of this work aligns precisely in that with one of Henry Jackson's photographs of the waterfall taken in Yellowstone National Park. In some of his works from 2022, Jackson attempted to draw from the masterpieces of past artists. However, as can be seen in this work, instead of tracing the original straightforwardly, the artist seems to just invert what he has inherited from the original work by emphasizing the peculiarity in colors and materials. As what the artist always expresses “Horrible”, one can feel one's whole-body evoking a shiver against the tense expression of this work, which seems to retain the majestic sublimity of magnificent nature that has once fascinated Henry Jackson while encompassing it with heavy lead violently.

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SABINE MORITZ Lantern II: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on paper
Dimensions: 100 x 70 cm (39 3/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Marian Goodman Gallery, 2022

In many of Moritz’s works, deep blue and red are often seen with a vibrant light green at the center. These colors are painted on paper with slightly rough brushstrokes in an up-and-down direction. Moritz's works were often created as a series or a sequence of paintings, and the title of this work also indicates that it is one of several paintings depicting a similar theme. Although it is entitled “Lantern”, no related image of a lantern can be found in the artwork. Moritz is known as an artist who mainly paints about memory and imagined scenery, so perhaps she should have been looking for images that emerge from ambiguity, rather than seeking tangibleness such as form and materiality. It is worth gazing at the painting while pondering what emerges from the depths of the deep blue space of this work as if casting a glimmer of light on a moonless night.

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HIROSHI SUGIMOTO Palais Garnier, Paris: Year: 2019
Medium: gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 61 x 50.8 cm
Edition: No.8 of 25
Acquired from Gallery Koyanagi, 2022

In Sugimoto's Theatre series, especially those with shots of opera house, are called “Opera House”. As the title suggests, this work captures the “Palais Garnier” in Paris. Designed by Charles Garnier in the reign of Napoleon III, it is an opera house which still operates today and is one of the most important architecture landmarks in Paris. It is also known as the stage for the musical “The Phantom of the Opera”. In addition to the thrilling scene of the large falling chandelier in the musical, the theatre space is the largest in Europe, decorated in a gorgeous Neo-Baroque style. In 1965, ceiling paintings by Marc Chagall were added and until then, a reproduction of the work by Jules-Eugène Lenepveu which was decorated on the ceiling, can be seen at Musée d'Orsay. In this work, the interior of the theater, with the overwhelming resolution of the large-format film, is depicted with meticulous detail. The long-exposure photography, as the main feature of the “Theatre” series, captures only the dazzling light on the stage without any performers or equipment. It seems to visualize the accumulation of the long history of the theatre in an earnest way.

ARTIST LIST

KEI IMAZU Moment: Year: 2008
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 162 x 194 cm (63 3/4 x 76 3/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

Imazu’s works in the 2000s were created by the process of combining images found in magazines and websites to compose rough sketches on a computer. She then created oil paintings from those sketches. In her recent works, she often focuses on selecting representations from a certain range of famous paintings such as art history, myths, and religious motifs. In this work, there appears to be no direct relationship between the urban landscape and the boy depicted. However, the boy in the center is bathed in bright light and his hair is wet with water. It creates an imagery chain that makes the urban landscape in the background resemble an underwater city. The light is gently refracted by the shimmering of the water. Through the distortion of the light, the colors change into rainbow colors as if interference occurred and turned into a beautiful scene The term “moment” in the title not only refers to a moment in time but also refers to the force that rotates an axis in physics, and the buildings in this painting are indicating a twist. Imazu’s paintings consistently evoke a flexible imagination by interlinking images. In this process, the image of the individual object is softly unraveled within the painting. The moment of force shown in the depiction of the “buildings” in this work clearly conveys the artist’s distinctive touch.

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KATHARINA GROSSE Untitled: Year: 2003
Medium: Acrylic on linen
Dimensions: 200.7 x 132.1 cm (79 x 52 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

Equipped with an industrial paint-sprayer as her artistic tool of choice, Grosse revolutionized painting by defying the conventional concept of painting—which was a male-dominant medium—through means of “color” itself. Using her signature paint-sprayer, she creates a multi-layered and delicate expression that emphasizes the physical presence of paint (color) by rivulets of dripping pigment running down the length of the support. It is a painting that remarkably highlights characteristics of Katharina Grosse's Abstract Expressionist style.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

ARTIST LIST

AYAKO ROKKAKU Untitled: Year: 2011
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 130 x 130 cm (51 1/8 x 51 1/8 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2022

The square canvas is filled with flowers in vivid red and pink colors, with a girl dressed in a green one-piece dress standing barefoot in the center. The striking contrast of red and green leads the viewer's gaze to the facial expression of the little grumpy girl with her eyes wide open. The background is primarily composed of cold colors, overlaying with bright and relaxed brushstrokes (perhaps with fingertips). After overlooking the whole work from above, one may notice a part that resembles a red flower crown. However, upon closer inspection, it reveals a complete change from the cheerful landscape that awful skulls are lurking in the myriad of the flower field. The skulls, depicted in blue lines and hidden in the flower shadows, seem to be both threatening and welcoming the girl. As symbolized by the girl's incomprehensible facial expression, Rokkaku’s paintings are glamorous yet sometimes show a glance of poison and shadows. To conclude, the girl can be described as both a Femme fatale and an Enfant terrible. The purer and more innocent things are, the more dreadful they can be.

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THOMAS RUFF neg◊bal_01: Year: 2014
Medium: chromogenic print, framed
Dimensions: frame size: 71 x 61 cm (28 x 24 in.) / image size: 22 x 29 cm (8 5/8 x 11 3/8 in.)
Edition: of 1 of 8
Acquired from Gallery Koyanagi, 2022

This work is part of “negatives” series, created using the old albumen print photographs from Ruff's own collection. It features a person who appears to be a dancer from a Balinese dance. Albumen print is paper coated with egg white and used as photographic paper in early photography. Until the gelatin silver print came on stage, which is still the mainstream today, albumen print was often used when developing photographs. Albumen print photographs are processed to finish in a warm sepia-toned color and are characterised by their unique and soft expression of the beautiful contrast. This work is inverted by using digital technology to make the negative film-like image with blue tones, like those blueprint photographs. As a photographer who does not take photographs himself, Ruff refrains from holding a camera in this work either. Nowadays, many people may not be familiar with film system, such as the phenomenon of color inversion in negatives. as digital photo with smartphone has become the most familiar form of photography. Before the widespread of digital technology, film photography for general use such as daily snapshots, used negative film which was easy to adjust the color negatives This made the concept of images reversing colors well-known. In the golden age of digital photography nowadays, Ruff turns the former photography techniques like albumen print, negative film, and blueprint into an artwork. When this work is visually recognized as a negative film imagery through a device such as a smartphone, the original image on albumen print is vividly brought to life.

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MEGURU YAMAGUCHI SPLITTING HORIZON NO. 23: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic and UV printing on canvas
Dimensions: 292.1 x 227.6 cm (115 x 89 5/8 in.)
Acquired from GOLD WOOD ART WORKS, 2022

This work is a commissioned work by Yamaguchi, one of the artists who inspired this collection, on the establishment of the UESHIMA MUSEUM. It is a 3m length large-scale work. Yamaguchi, who temporarily returned to Japan from New York, experimented with a 3-day trial run in the museum space before completing the piece in his New York studio. This work was made at a major turning point for Yamaguchi, whose previous series such as “Out of Bounds”, featured vigorous strokes and shaped canvases that did not require a support structure. Here, he reevaluates the existence of a rectangular canvas as a support structure. Yamaguchi’s signature color is a special blue that was developed by himself and is used prominently in this work. Despite the coolness of colors, it is bursting with terrifying heat energy. The straight, unwavering strokes, seemingly completely beyond containment within the frame of the canvas, create a blistering sense of movement, drawing the viewers into an illusion that even the space around it is being violently shaken. These strokes suddenly drop from top speed to zero due to ruptures of bright color planes, like sharp fragments of broken glass. The textured print substrate and multiple layers of paint give rise to the work’s complex spatial depth. Sculptural, organically undulating lines leave from the depths to the foreground with the irregularity of splashing water, as if they weave through the spaces left by the straight strokes that dominate the screen. Yamaguchi’s strokes, having obtained the new horizon in the form of the canvas, have managed to demonstrate almost maximal kinetic force in pictorial form.

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KENJIRO OKAZAKI 月花 (Ipomoea alba) / No idea why I was going there / あるいは空中の椰子果あお空の奥か (le bleu du ciel) / Seen with an ideal, Out the window / きたいの中に溶ける魚: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on canvas, framed
Dimensions: 20.5 x 16.5 cm (8 1/8 x 6 1/2 in.) / 25.1 x 18.3 cm (9 7/8 x 7 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Blum & Poe, 2023

This is a pair of works from the artist’s “Zero Thumbnail” series. They take their inspiration from “Sea” and “The Moon and Flowers” (painted in 1929 and 1926 respectively; both in the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo), masterpieces by Harue Koga, who was active in the Taishō and Shōwa periods. Koga was known for adopting the avant-garde movements of the 20th century, such as Cubism, Futurism, and Surrealism, one after another. “Sea” is known as one of the earliest Surrealist works in Japan. “The Moon and Flowers” was painted during a period in which Koga was obsessed with Paul Klee’s art, and the influence of that artist is clear. Okazaki is also a critic, and, as one can imagine from the titles of these works, he is sure to have analyzed Koga as part of his creative process. Okazaki cannot have overlooked the fact that Surrealism and Klee’s thinking, from which Koga took inspiration, were influenced in no small part by contemporary developments in Freud’s psychoanalysis. Okazaki skillfully manipulates context in the “Zero Thumbnail” series. The titles of the artworks demonstrate his interdisciplinary approach, tying together various academic fields and cultures in something akin to a game of free association. With these works, Okazaki’s poetry leaps effortlessly into art trends from a century ago and their underlying ideas, starting with the painter Harue Koga.

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TEPPEI KANEUJI POOOPOPOO #20: Year: 2023
Medium: mixed media
Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 5 cm (47 1/4 x 47 1/4 x 2 in.)
Acquired from Yumiko Chiba Associates, 2023

The “POOOPOPOO” series is a pictorial development from the sculptor Teppei Kaneuji. The appearance of a collage-like layer structure is further enhanced by a special printing technique that reproduces a three-dimensional material. In this work, many layers of particularly strong stripes are superimposed on top of each other. In his previous examples of similarly two-dimensional work, Kaneuji has mainly used an approach closer to collage in which it was relatively easy to recognize the source material, but this piece could be described as a complete turnaround by experimenting with total abstract expression. However, the fact that this is a work of abstract expression does not conflict with its collage-like nature, and one can read borrowings from and references to many artists from movements including Minimal Art and Op Art. The gently undulating blue stripes, for instance, bring to mind Vasarely’s “Zebra.” The combination of vertical stripes in orange, black, light blue, and pink, emphasizing the strong verticality across the entire canvas, emulates a characteristic of some of Bridget Riley’s works from the early 70s, even down to the gently twisting gradations at the top and bottom. Looking at the horizontal axis of the work, the series of equally spaced white parallel lines floating at the center is reminiscent of Agnes Martin’s art. In this work, Kaneuji has created a collage of the “essence” of abstract expression. The layers of the image have completely different textures, with varying image resolution, distortion at the edges caused by the reduction of quality inherent to the JPEG format, blurring caused by image enlargement, and data glitches. This leads to significant differences between the physical height of each layer from the underlying surface, and the perceived depth of what is understood visually as the foreground and background. In addition, Kaneuji has also used a highly specialized printing method to create a sense of faux three-dimensional materiality in this work, making it even more difficult to escape from the visual trickery.

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JEAN-PHILIPPE DELHOMME Building in Fog: Year: 2021
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 33.2 x 41.3 cm (13 x 16 1/4 in.)
Acquired from PERROTIN, 2022

Lights of buildings at a distance are flickering in a foggy evening. This work features scenes devoid of human subjects, however implicit positively the presence of human activities. If light purple sky is the appearance of the gradually brightening sunrise, will the window lights and moonlight eventually disappear with the morning mist? In Delhomme’s advertisements and fashion illustrations as an illustrator, people are replicated as buzzing with, enjoying the richness of life. Compared to the liveliness of those illustrations, the quietness of this work depicts a stark contrast. However, Delhomme’s attitude remains consistent with the pureness and calmness of the subjects in his paintings.

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JEAN-PHILIPPE DELHOMME La SIRA Night: Year: 2021
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 33.2 x 41.2 cm (13 x 16 1/4 in.)
Acquired from PERROTIN, 2022

Although this may seem like Delhomme’s typical landscape painting of a bland building, yet upon closer observation, one can see Delhomme’s painting hanging onto the exterior of the property. It is as if there was a painting-in-painting, revealing the night scene of his solo exhibition, “Artist in Residence・La SIRA” in 2020. Instead of submerging into a deep indigo night, the off-white building and painting stand out from the dark, seem to express the artist's hope and confidence. Such affirmation towards oneself and others is common to Delhomme’s paintings.

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DANIEL ARSHAM Bronze Stainless Steel Venus Italica Bust: Year: 2021
Medium: Bronze, stainless steel, wooden pedestal
Dimensions: 162.5 x 51 x 61 cm (64 x 20 x 24 in.)
Acquired from PERROTIN, 2022

This work is from Arsham’s “Fictional Archaeology” series. Known for his desolate dystopian style, Arsham used plaster to create installations that imitate white collapsing ruins and relics, and even sculptures that look like “bleached” Pokémons. Intentionally skipping the “present” on time axis, his works suggest a transcending perspective of looking back to the “past” from the “future “. The title “Venus Italica” of this work was a classical variant of Venus statue that Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned Antonio Canova to create in the 19th century, who was one of the most prominent neoclassical sculptors of the time. Plaster replicas of the head are extensively produced and are generally inexpensive. Materials used in this sculpture – metal (bronze and stainless steel), is rarely found in Arsham’s works. The reason for this is that because “plaster” was used on the original statue to nullify the texture and color of the reference, it was necessary for Arsham to create with a material that is entirely different from such medium. This is certainly a promising work that marks the beginning of a new chapter derived from “Fictional Archaeology”.

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OLAFUR ELIASSON Black Quasi Bricks: Year: 2003
Medium: Clay and glazing
Dimensions: 20.3 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm (8 x 9 x 9 in.)
Edition: No.22, 23, 24 and 25 of 30
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

A ceramic block work by Eliasson, who is known as an artist who manipulates light. Variations of “Quasi Brick” are frequently used among large scale wall installations and commissioned works. One of his famous pieces is “Quasi brick wall” (2002) located in the garden of Fundacion NMAC in Spain. It is a large wall made of mirrored polyhedral blocks, capturing the sunlight, the green of the trees, and the blue of the sky. Eliasson is also developing projects to examine and practice sustainability and renewability through his own works. A wall surface is created by combining many single blocks, and this combination creates a phenomenon that could not occur with just a block unit. Just as the meaning of the word “Quasi = as if” suggests, a block unit may “appear” to be one independent entity, but in fact its true value is demonstrated by the combination. This is the essence of human society.

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SAM FRANCIS Lyre Eight (Lembeck, L.S5): Year: 1972
Medium: screenprint in colors
Dimensions: 107.4 x 138.2 cm (42 1/4 x 54 3/8 in.)
Edition: No. 41 of 50
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

Francis has an international reputation as an important artist in the Abstract Expressionism movement and having close ties with Japan. This work is a rhythmic composition with effective use of three primary colors, dripping reminiscent of Pollock, and other elements such as blank space that is said to be influenced by Zen and Japanese painting. While artists of Abstract Expressionism in general prefer large, overall compositions often referred to as all-over or American scale, Francis’s paintings are clearly different by putting much more emphasis on the blank space. It is rather rare in the history of Western painting to have such a meaningful use of white background as in this work. Cézanne had several intentionally unpainted areas, but they are different from the blank spaces of Francis. Cézanne was expressing something in the blank space, while Francis carefully shows the meaning of the blank space being blank. The relation of the subject and background as the major premise of painting should be thrown away in this work. The attention should turn to the relationship between the colored areas and the non-colored, white, blank space.

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ROY LICHTENSTEIN Entablature V (Corlett 142): Year: 1976
Medium: screenprint and lithograph in colors wit collage and embossing
Dimensions: 107.4 x 138.2 cm (42 1/4 x 54 3/8 in.)
Edition: AP VIII, aside from the numbered edition of 30
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

A pop-art master alongside Andy Warhol. This work is not a part of his signature Ben-Day dots series, but it is one of the relief-prints of a series from the later years of his activity in the 1970’s called the “Entablatures”. This work refers to the horizontal ornamentation on the top of the columns in Greco-Roman architecture. It is basically a three-layered structure of cornice, frieze and architrave, and the artwork visibly imitates this scheme. By morphologically restructuring the three-dimensional column capital into a flat format, it refers to a specific architectural design, a form that is totally different from painting. Lichtenstein’s early works adapting American comics to painting are essentially synonymous to this. As usually it is not easy to quote expressions between different forms of art (its necessity and probability is rather low), this work can be considered a clear demonstration of the unique peculiarity of Lichtenstein.

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BANKSY Bomb Love: Year: 2003
Medium: Screen print in colors
Dimensions: 69.3 x 48.3 cm (27 3/8 x 19 1/8 in.)
Edition: No.346 of 600
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022

A faceless living legend of the streets that continues to throw highly critical messages to the society. He made the graffiti culture widely known throughout the world and converted the young anger on the streets smoldering in the corners of the city into a voice stronger and louder than anyone else’s. This work is also called the “Bomb Hugger”. Who is this smiling girl thinking of as she hugs the bomb lovingly in the bubblegum pink background? BANKSY is also a flag-bearer of resistance to conflict, war, major social problems, and oppression. In the past, caricaturists used their sarcastic smiles as a weapon to fight against politicians and social problems. Similarly, BANKSY manipulated the media and exploited the art market. If bombs were just soft stuffed toys, everyone would smile. The original is said to have been painted on a street in London when the September 11 attacks occurred in 2001, but several variations at different locations have been seen since then. It is a representative motif of his early period.

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BANKSY Jack & Jill (Police Kids): Year: 2005
Medium: screenprint in colors, signed in pencil
Dimensions: image: 45 x 64.9 cm (17 3/4 x 25 1/2 in.) sheet: 50 x 69.9 cm (19 5/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
Edition: #62 of 350
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

A rare work without any confirmation of the original mural and was only published as a print. At first, one can see two smiling children running happily, carrying a flower basket with a background as clear as the blue sky. They are wearing bulletproof vests with the word “POLICE” highlighted in yellow on their chests. Are they playing a pretend police game? There is a traditional English nursery rhyme called “Jack and Jill”. It is uncertain whether it was meant to mock the ruling power (the king) of the time, but Banksy, a native from Bristol (UK) should be aware of this. As the police is also a symbol of public power and authority, this joyful painting suddenly takes on an opposite meaning. The kind of heavy humor only unique to Banksy.

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BANKSY Napalm: Year: 2004
Medium: screenprint in colors, signed in pencil
Dimensions: image: 37.4 x 58.5 cm (14 3/4 x 23 in.) sheet: 49.9 x 69.9 cm (19 5/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
Edition: No.106 of 500
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

The motif of this work is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of children fleeing from napalm bombs taken during the Vietnam war (photo by Nick Ut). Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald here are both nothing but symbols of American capitalism and democracy. How can the viewers accept the sight of a young girl shivering from fear in between these two characters with a constant smile on their face (and probably unable to even make crying or angry faces)? The Vietnam of the past is always repeated somewhere in the world. This is a striking print that leaves a heavy pain in the chest.

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MARK RYDEN Yakalina Array: Year: 2021
Medium: mixed media on paper, framed
Dimensions: sheet: 31.8 x 39.4 cm (12 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.) frame: 48 x 63 x 3.3 cm (18 7/8 x 24 7/8 x 1 1/4 in.)
Acquired from PERROTIN, 2022

This work seems to be an installation of drawing depicting nine standing “Yakalina” statues, otherwise implying an interpretation of a ceremony. Nine pieces of “Yakalina” statues are depicted in the upper center of the work, each of them corresponds to the colors and numbers of the Enneagram. A 3 x 3 magic circle is depicted in the lower right corner of the work. Dürer also depicted magic circles with Kakuro puzzles on his famous “Melencolia”. Even in classical art, the rationality and mysteries of numbers had inspired many artists. Klee’s works had been depicted with magical circles and numbers as well. The turtle’s shell also appears to be split into nine pieces. Although there is no interpretation from the artist, the numbers and figures are reminiscent of divination and numerology.

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YAYOI KUSAMA 靴を履いて野にゆこう / Going to the Field with Shoes On: Year: 1979
Medium: Screen print in colors
Dimensions: 50.5 x 65 cm (19 7/8 x 25 5/8 in.)
Edition: No.65 of 100
Acquired from UMI Gallery | The Museum of Contemporary Art, Karuizawa, 2022

One of the first two series of prints by Yayoi Kusama, who is one of the most admired female artists in the world. She started with this work in 1979, along with another series of prints “Standing in the Visionary Field”. Kusama has then created hundreds of prints, all of which are highly praised globally. Shoes (high heels) are considered one of Kusama’s most important motifs and were seen in her early paperwork and soft sculptures, as well as many other works that she produced until this day. This work features shoe embedded with net-like depiction, and it is obviously an “Infinity Net”.

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KOHEI NAWA Line - Fragment #56: Year: 2008
Medium: acrylic, paper, framed
Dimensions: 31.6 x 31.6 cm (12 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)
Acquired from SBI ART AUCTION, 2022

This work is from “Direction” series, Nawa’s best-known two-dimensional works so far. There is also the “Moment” series that is related to this work but “Line - Fragment” was created earlier in time. Nawa’s two-dimensional works are characterized by abstaining from the action of “painting” deliberately. As a painter, one would hold a paint brush and begin to face the canvas while moving it as a response to one’s physical movement. However, as a sculptor, Nawa has a different approach from other artists from the very first step. Starting with this work, as well as other Nawa’s paintings, “coloring” involves catching the falling paint from the canvas due to gravity. Similarly, “painting” involves the shifting of the canvas back and forth and side to side, rather than working with a paint brush. This is simply a sculptural act similar to carved statues and cast sculptures, only the media is replaced by paint and canvas. Nawa’s constant focus on the subject is what makes him a sculptor and his constant subversive behavior on the practice of sculpting once again proves himself as a vanguard of contemporary sculptors. Such consistency in attitude can be seen from his early works and including this work as well.

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KOHEI NAWA PixCell [Mandarin Duck]: Year: 2003
Medium: Mixed media : Acrylic box, prism sheet, taxidermy
Dimensions: 25 x 35 x 17 cm (7 7/8 x 13 3/4 x 6 3/4 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

“PRISM” is a convergent variation of Nawa’s series of work, beads covered “PixCell” named “BEADS”, which a transparent box (cells) is enclosed with prism sheets to cover surfaces of taxidermied animals or objects. This work features the same mandarin duck from Ueshima Collection’s “Mandarin Duck” that was acquired earlier in 2018. The mandarin duck in the box (cell) is covered with prism sheets which, viewed from any angles, appears as if split by a polarizing prism, distorted, overlapping each other. Because the box is hermetically sealed, it is impossible to verify its existence by hand, and seeing it with the eyes is the only way to confirm its existence, but it is not clearly visible no matter how one looks at it. The PixCell series is clearly based on a digital concept, yet brilliantly visualized by means of prismatic effect, through a transparent and sealed box, suggesting a binary contrast between one’s perceptions and the real called dichotomy. Like many other species of ducks, mandarin ducks undergo a moult after the mating season into eclipse plumage, and lose their bright coloration and adopt more subdued shades. If one must cite a specific characteristic of using mandarin duck as a theme, it is that life which originally depends on the Eclipse cycle, through conceptual creation, is now replaced by sculpture that will never perish.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

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YUICHI HIRAKO Perennial 03: Year: 2019
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 194 x 162.2 cm (76 3/8 x 63 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Christie’s, 2022

This work was displayed at “TOKYO☆VOCA” (March-December 2022, Dai-Ichi Life Gallery, Tokyo, Japan), a festive exhibition featuring the award winners of the VOCA Exhibition (held annually at Ueno Royal Museum) organized by the Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company since 1994. The painting, which is divided into four large parts, attracts the focus on the world of painting like a window. However, the four parts show completely different landscapes. Hirako is especially interested in the relationship between human and nature, therefore natural and artificial objects are mixed in his works. The perception of nature is constantly changing as people interact with it to survive. In this work, a chimera of human and plants representing the relationship between human and nature, is holding a pet-like cat in his chest with many houseplants in the background. In the opposite corner are plants and flowers arranged in pots and vases in the front. He seems to be surrounded by nature but in fact all objects are borrowed from nature. Just like a contrast to his life, the crossed positions seem to depict a nature that does not interact with people. “Perennial” is a plant that lives for many years, or it also means things perpetually recurring. People consume from nature, while at the same time they try to love and protect it. This is to be repeated as long as the human world continues.

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RISAKU SUZUKI SAKURA 21,4-570: Year: 2021
Medium: archival pigment print on canvas, unique
Dimensions: 120 x 150 cm (47 1/4 x 59 in.)
Acquired from Taka Ishii Gallery, 2022

“Sakura” is one of Suzuki's signature series. This is a very rare canvas print work among his works as a photographer. Although works in edition have been printed on standard printing paper with the same title, this work is the only unique piece on canvas. Suzuki is widely known as a photographer who is fascinated about “what is being perceived”, this work brilliantly demonstrates such characteristics. The flower raft covers the surface of the lake and thick tree trunks can be seen reaching up to the sky towering through the gap in the raft. The water surface fluctuates causing a faint illusion like a mirage, conveying the softness of spring and the fragrance of flowers in the air. Countless petals that fall from the branches and drift on the water surface overlap with the trunk, creating a beautiful composition that makes the cherry blossoms look like they are in full bloom in the photo. What was originally on the water surface would be reversed upside down, one will find that the image of this work is intentionally reversed upon closer observation. It is a fantastical work.

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SHINRO OHTAKE 残景12 / Mnemoscape 12: Year: 2020
Medium: oil, oil stick, acrylic, gouache, modeling paste, pastel, ink, color powder, scenic lichen, sand, oil varnish, FRP, printed matter, film, cardboard, thin paper, packing paper, cotton cloth, cheesecloth, guitar string, wire, cotton yarn, marble, pebble, metal and wood on wooden panel
Dimensions: 100 x 70 x 12 cm (39 3/8 x 27 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.)
Acquired from TAKE NINAGAWA, 2022

A multilayered and heavy-textured work reminiscent of the series "BLDG." that Ohtake used to work on. This is one of the works from the "Mnemoscape" series, created while confronting himself once again during the Covid-19 pandemic. Overlays of rich colors and materials are superimposed excessively to form a dense mass in dark brown color. As the viewer looks closely at the work, cloth, paper, sand, stones, sticks, wire-like objects of diversified textures and compositions are harmoniously blended into the heavy painting. The memory that Ohtake refers to is closely related to the layering of time. The memories of each individual are accumulated, time passes through and connects them in all directions. The passage of time refers to memories that have been accumulated accordingly, which Ohtake transforms it into a multilayered painting. However, Ohtake does not express this in an excessive manner. If this work gives the impression of being excessively compacted, it is because our memories and time are a tremendous collection of information by nature. As Ohtake himself once remarked, the "Mnemoscape" series, which includes this work, as "the scenery that remains at the end of memory". He attempts to visualize the result of this enormous amount of accumulation, an expression that ordinary people cannot even imagine.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

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NAOFUMI MARUYAMA Puddle in the woods 5: Year: 2010
Medium: acrylic on cotton
Dimensions: 227.3 x 181.8 cm
Acquired from Shugo Arts, 2022

The series titled "puddle in the woods" was created based on Maruyama's experience of walking through the forest. Depicted through using a staining technique of spreading water on an untreated canvas and allowing it to absorb the paint through water, the contours of the tree trunks and branches, the grove space, as well as the ground and the puddles are obscured, and the interspersed array of colors instill the painting with a pleasant rhythm. Maruyama’s characteristic painterly spaces that lie in the elusive realm between figurative and abstract, evoke an air of familiarity perhaps because we have each experienced and hold with our memories the light that is depicted there.It was presented at the exhibition "Monet’s Legacy" held at the Yokohama Museum of Art in 2018, as a symbolic work by a contemporary artist that resonates with Monet's perspective and painterly expression.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Group Show of Contemporary Artists 2022 "Energy Overflowing from the Gaze"
  June 11 - July 1 , 2022
  Tokyo Metropolitan Museum Gallery C
  https://manazashinonetsu.wixsite.com/my-site

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CHEN WEI Fragment: Year: 2019
Medium: laser print, LED light box
Dimensions: 76.7 x 93 x 13 cm (30 1/4 x 36 1/2 x 5 in.)
Acquired from Ota Fine Arts, 2022

As the title suggests, numerous glass bottle fragments are scattered on the rain-soaked street. This is perhaps downtown at night. The reflection of the neon signs on the puddles appears to be a painting sprinkled with vivid color paints. This work ingeniously captures the quiet yet frantic-tense atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of a back alley. This is also a powerful work that allows the viewers to sentimentally aware of the violence of a place filled with broken glass from a safe distance. To capture this realistic scene, Chen’s works are photographed in a studio similar to cinematic productions. The technique is called “constructed photography” or “setup” photography, an attitude contradicting the concepts of street snapshots or straight photography. It can also be considered as a contemporary offshoot of the high-contextual photographic expression with a strong awareness of the art history of Jeff Wall and others who advocated the Vancouver School.

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MEGURU YAMAGUCHI SHADEZ OF BLUE NO.1: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic, spray paint on UV printed and burnt aluminum panel
Dimensions: 244 x 122 cm (96 x 48 in.)
Acquired from +81 Gallery, 2022

This work features a new form of artistic expression by deviating from Yamaguchi’s vibrantly intense brushstrokes presented in his previous works. This work continued a path of liberation from the constraints of square-shaped canvas and vertical paintings, reminiscing Frank Stella’s “shaped canvas” or perhaps “flatbed” as described by Robert Rauschenberg. However, in this work, Yamaguchi obviously revisits the rectangular format with the use of an aluminum panel, so to speak, returning to “the frame”. If “Out of Bounds” series are paintings devoid of support (strictly speaking support still exists), the “SHADEZ OF BLUE” series breaks away from the concept of support and frame and attempts to challenge in an exact opposite direction where support or frame is mandatory and expressed by “all over” composition. Each area of the composition is given equal significance. With its UV print as the base, it is fixed onto the hard surface of aluminum and is ferociously superimposed with three dimensional pigments. Moreover, perhaps due to the heat of the burner, the aluminum frame which serves as the support is extremely deformed and warped. Pigments with metallic luster such as silver on the key parts enhances the fluctuation and has developed a sense of wobbling unsteadiness to a greater extent towards the distorted painting.

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ANSELM REYLE untitled: Year: 2008
Medium: foil on canvas, acrylic box
Dimensions: 142.2 x 121.9 cm (56 x 48 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby's, 2022

In this work, metallic tin foil is encased in a blue acrylic box. The foil is shaped like a huge sheet that has been squeezed and contracted, creating a large fold of drape that reflects light in a complex manner. As the external lights emitted into the blue box, it works as a color filter, causing the foil from inside as well as the reflections on its surface appears to be blue. Reyle’s artworks attempt to develop from an abstract expressionist approach by applying a rather contemporary way of thinking and industrial materials. It is noteworthy that the spectacular presence of these objects that protrude prominently from the wall, and the richly textured three-dimensional structure of the foil have changed the limitations of painting by expanding the space of the canvas. On the off-white wall, the glowing blue light reflected by the shimmering light certainly catches one’s eyes. The irregular and random forms of the foil resonate with the philosophies of Action Painting and Chance Operation. These shapes go beyond the artist's consciousness and intentions while creating, and their simple and brilliant color composition requires the audience to observe from an abstract perspective.

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KEISUKE YAMAMOTO Untitled: Year: 2009
Medium: oil, acrylic, color pencil, pencil, epoxy, collage on canvas
Dimensions: 65.2 x 50 cm
Acquired from Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2022

Yamamoto's paintings combine organic geometric forms and botanical forms in a unique rhythm, as if creating a symphony of colors. The smooth painted surfaces, uneven textures generated by thickly layering the paint, and the use of collage gives rise to a canvas rich in variety that asserts its own material existence. Its three-dimensional quality is likely a reflection of Yamamoto’s physical sensibility towards his materials, informed by his artistic origins as a sculptor. The materiality and depth of the work evoke the senses of each viewer. Its rich expression conceived through the connections, intersections, and crossings of images which the artist himself describes as “not a reproduction of something, but a means of approaching existence,” leaves a profound and lasting impression.

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DAISUKE OHBA M: Year: 2020
Medium: acrylic on linen, mounted on wood panel
Dimensions: 180 x 180 cm (70 7/8 x 70 7/8 in.)
Acquired from SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, 2022

The painting is filled with seven colors of light made from holographic paint. Several curvy fan-shaped lines like sand ripple marks of Japanese dry landscape Zen garden, are depicted diagonally on the canvas and form similar figures, providing an extremely geometrical impression. A perfect circle connecting the curvy lines is revealed in the center of the square-shaped canvas. Although it is obviously a circle, the viewer is confused about how the circle was constructed. This mysterious circle was created by a self-made tool. While the semicircles are composed as if they are about to collide with each other, the hologram with rainbow color effect is also reversed exactly at the border of the semicircular collision line. As the artist himself cites gold-plated folding screens and candy hologram stickers as the starting point of his idea, it is inevitable that he would have chosen reflected light when he tries to incorporate light, as well as temporality (movement) into his art expression. Just as time never stands still, the image of the metallic reflections in this work changes rapidly depending on the viewer’s position.

ARTIST LIST

NANAE MITOBE My Guitar: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on guitar, chair
Dimensions: guitar: 115 x 40 cm (45 1/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
Acquired from Ginza Tsutaya Books, 2022

Elements of music frequently appear in Mitobe's works. She often references musicians such as Michael Jackson, David Bowie and John Lennon as motifs. Mitobe’s artworks and music are often related to each other. In her solo exhibitions, various “painted” musical instruments are brought in from the atelier and arranged as installations. As an extended expression of painting, Mitobe’s works have reached a sculptural volume as a result of extreme layering. From this perspective, this artwork is also not intended to be produced as a sculpture through paint. Instead, the support for the painting is not a canvas but a guitar. The chair, which serves as the support for this work, is covered with paint stains here and there and is probably from Mitobe’s atelier. The somewhat stained chair still retains its original form and purpose. On the other hand, the guitar, which has all its original elements covered by paint, has transformed into an object that can no longer produce sound. The contrast between the chair and the guitar highlights the peculiarity of this work even more.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

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NANAE MITOBE A Night at Birdland: Year: 2021
Medium: oil, pigment, cymbal, brush on canvas
Dimensions: 180 x 180 cm (70 7/8 x 70 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Ginza Tsutaya Books, 2022

The title reveals that the person depicted is jazz drummer Art Blakey. Mitobe has depicted various prominent figures in a satirical or respectful way. In this work, the word "ART!" is bouncing sprightly on a vibrant green background as if a play on words. Like Mitobe’s other works, the drum body, Blakey's face and other objects are depicted with an excessive amount of paint, forming a bulge that appears to be reliefs. Furthermore, the cymbal on the left shoulder is forcefully attached to the canvas. Mitobe’s paintings reject imaginary spatiality according to perspective, instead, she confronts them physically. It is precisely because she greedily captures the motifs by smearing a large amount of paint onto the canvas that allows her to create such an overwhelmingly powerful work, such as this one that feels as if Blakey’s iconic drum rolls at any moment.

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YOKO MATSUMOTO Light Shining in Darkness: Year: 1992
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 182 x 228 cm (71 5/8 x 89 3/4 in.)
Acquired from Hino Gallery, 2022

As a direct practitioner of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field in Japan, Matsumoto’s pink painting series is considered to be her representative work. In this piece, the entire No.150 canvas is a dynamic color surface of pink as the main theme, with overlapping brushstrokes of other colors like orange and gray spreading across the canvas. At that time, Matsumoto would lay the canvas on the floor and paint as if she were leaning over it. Although immersion is often used to express the experience of abstract paintings, her pink works in particular were precisely aimed to be all-over as if her own body was swallowed up in the painting. Matsumoto is not a large person by any means, and even if she opens her arms with the paintbrush on her hands, it would be difficult to reach the short side of the canvas. However, what about the canvas itself? It contains fluid energy like a group of rising clouds, revealing passionate and intense emotions in contrast with the pale colors that cannot be contained on the screen. This work was featured in “Today’s Artists X: NISHIMURA Morio / MATSUMOTO Yoko” exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura in 2005, and “The Light: MATUSMOTO Yoko / NOGUCHI Rika” exhibition held at the National Art Center, Tokyo in 2009.

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YOKO MATSUMOTO Generating and Destroying: Year: 1995
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 193 x 259 cm (76 x 102 in.)
Acquired from Hino Gallery, 2022

This work is a representative piece from a series featuring the entire canvas being painted in pink as the basic tone. When confronting this large F200-size canvas, the viewer may feel as if the entire body is being swallowed up in the vague world of painting. Treating pink as the central theme in painting is rare among Abstract Expressionist painters. For Matsumoto, who studied in New York in the 1960s when color field artists were rising, their all-over composition and the use of acrylic paint and raw canvas had a profound influence on her subsequent production activities. Matsumoto was one of the earliest artists in Japan to challenge Abstract Expressionism, which was still immature in the country. She established pink as her signature color, a brilliant color that was unique to acrylic paint, which was still a new painting medium at the time. This outstanding foresight along with the artistry is something that should be recognized. In this work, the pink color spreads beautifully across the entire picture. The image of “generating and destroying” abstracted from the pink color embodies the color field that Matsumoto has digested in her mind. This work was introduced as one of her major works showing its importance in both the exhibition “Today’s Artists” at the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura in 2005 and “The Light: MATUSMOTO Yoko / NOGUCHI Rika” held as two solo exhibitions at the National Art Center, Tokyo in 2009. This work was exhibited on loan from the Ueshima collection in the exhibition “Passport to Shangri-La” at the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama in 2022.

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YUSUKE FUKUI TESLA - IKAZUCHI: Year: 2014-2015
Medium: oil, glue, beeswax on linen
Dimensions: diptych, 123.8 x 370.5 cm (48 3/4 x 145 7/8 in.) overall
Acquired from Everybody Needs Art, 2022

In the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Fukui turned his attention to energy issues and in the process became interested in Edison's rival and ill-fated genius, Nikola Tesla. Gaining inspiration from the research content by Tesla, the “TESLA” series including this work was then created. Tesla’s contributions include “alternating current” which is still in use today as a worldwide power transmission system, the basic theory of wireless communication and fluorescent light, as well as “World System”, a groundbreaking wireless power transmission system concept. In this “TESLA” series, Fukui expresses his belief through painting that if the “World System” research was to be realised, it could lead to improvements in energy problems around the world and global reform of social system. In the large two-sided painting space, several pale flashes of light generated by an atmospheric discharge are being depicted sharply. Deep blue and black are overlaid on a carefully crafted base of glue and chalk, while the lines depicting the lightning change to iridescence as the light reflects. The subtitle “IKAZUCHI” is the word for thunder, which in Japan is regarded as a deity, and has appeared in the names of gods from the ancient times. Additionally, “INAZUMA”, alternate name for thunder, means that it brings fertility from the high heaven down to the rice fields on earth. The ideal world of gaining energy unlimitedly from the air that Tesla envisioned has overlapped with the Japanese image of “thunder” in Fukui’s work.

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KEISUKE YAMAMOTO Sleeping Mountains, Bird and a Daydream: Year: 2022
Medium: oil, wood
Dimensions: 154.5 x 34.6 x 48.2 cm
Acquired from Isetan Shinjuku, 2022

Keisuke Yamamoto has cultivated his own unique means of expression while shifting back and forth between painting and sculpture. The surface of this wooden sculpture has been painted in oils. At first glance, it appears to be an idyllic motif consisting of a stack of plump spherical forms with a bird feeding hut on top, all painted in candy-like colors. However, the “faces” engraved on the spheres are rather uncanny, making the work feel both cute yet somewhat unsettling. The fairies also reflect a sense of diversity. Using found objects and scrap wood as materials for his sculptures, Yamamoto continues to question the relationships between humans, living things and nature, and the society in which we live, creating a fascinating world of fantasy. The title is also rich in nuance.

Past Exhibitions

- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
  https://a-c-k.jp/

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ERIK PARKER Last Laugh: Year: 2016
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 74 x 84cm (291/8 x 33 1/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

The pink sky, extremely colorful plants, and light-purple ground, none of them is realistic. Parker's landscapes are always altered into something that can never be seen in reality, yet filling with a tranquil madness that seems obviously natural. The unusual landscape paintings, known as the “Still Lifes” series, are the most characteristic styles in Parker’s works. Although he is also known for his many text-themed paintings, he is raising fundamental questions about the features which a painting represents. In the same way, as letters represent sounds, meanings and words, colors and motifs in paintings are linked with things of some kind, such as green representing plants while repeated curves represent waves. The combination of these meanings is what makes the material of paint and canvas into paintings. Parker intentionally destroys them and reconstructs them with his own logic.

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TOEKO TASTUNO Aug-28-1999: Year: 1999
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 72.7 x 91 cm (28 5/8 x 35 7/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

Two contrasting colors, red and blue, fuse over a gentle formation. The colors gradually darken into shadow towards the midpoint, so that they do not appear to blend with one another. Tatsuno produced several similar works during this period; many feature a dichotomy in terms of color or composition, and it is the artist’s skillful evocation of light and shadow that creates depth within the paintings. In this piece as well, it appears as if she has created the deep curvatures of draped fabric. Through illusions, such as perspective, the painting creates a false sense of space on the flat surface. Always aware of this illusionary nature, Tatsuno persisted with simple abstract expressions within the limits of such illusions. Indeed, the rich pictorial space created by the truly simple methods of chiaroscuro and complementary color contrast could be described as typical of Tatsuno’s work.

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ANSELM REYLE untitled: Year: 2002
Medium: acrylic, acrylic glass, mixed media on canvas
Dimensions: 67.3 x 55.9 cm (26 1/2 x 22 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

This work was exhibited in the artist’s solo exhibition “ARS NOVA” held at Kunsthalle Zürich (Switzerland) in 2006. Reyle’s works are often focused on the theme of light and are incorporated in physical luminescence and reflections like lighting and mirror materials. In this work, shards of crushed transparent acrylic reflect the surrounding light, blending in with the bold color surface on the canvas. The title of his solo exhibition in 2006 is a Latin word that means new technique and new art. It is likely derived from the musical theory that developed in 14th-century France on the eve of the Renaissance, while art also underwent a period of major humanistic reforms from that time. Reyle resists the stereotypes of art and continues to seek new visual discoveries. “ARS NOVA” must have been a powerful statement that loudly proclaims this attitude.

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TEPPEI KANEUJI White Discharge (Built-up Objects) #48: Year: 2019
Medium: plastic, wood, steel, rubber found objects, pigment, resin
Dimensions: 152 x 113 x 41 cm (59 7/8 x 44 1/2 x 16 1/8 in.)
Acquired from Yumiko Chiba Associates, 2023

“White Discharge” is one major series that Kaneuji has been working on since the beginning. He stacks various objects in a pile and pours white resin over them. In this piece, he gathers random things like figurines, pipes, containers, and daily goods in a heap atop chair legs, creating a fortress or tower. Although Kaneuji is a sculptor, he does not carve materials like stone and wood. Instead, he presents constructions, which convert ready-made goods such as everyday items, industrial products, and toys as sculpture. As the components are ready-made objects, each of them has specific functions, usages, and meanings, and those attributes would have given them their inherent significance. In the piece, however, Kaneuji intentionally ignores those existing attributes and connects things that would not usually be positioned next to one another. Moreover, the white liquid covers up their shapes. Just as heavy snow covers streets, bridges, and houses in pure white, blurring their outlines and boundaries, in Kaneuji’s “White Discharge,” inherent meanings and images are nullified in the white. Etymologically, “discharge” means the release (dis-) of something that was full (charge). The attributes that had saturated the aggregate of unidentifiable objects constructed by Kaneuji pour out as an oozing white fluid. While everything is mixed together, there are a few objects in their original state, peeping toward the viewer from the occasional gap. When things that go unnoticed in daily life, or are abandoned without recognition, they shine all the brighter just before when they are about to perish.

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TEPPEI KANEUJI POOOPOPOO#5: Year: 2022
Medium: mixed media
Dimensions: 80 x 120 x 2.5 cm (31 1/2 x 47 1/4 x 1 in.)
Acquired from Yumiko Chiba Associates, 2023

This work was created using image printing technology in 3D. Although it has a definite sense of materiality as if painted with a brush, the surface has a more sculptural than painterly quality, looking like it is structurally piling thin and textured layers atop one another. Kaneuji has always used a diverse range of media (materials), but the creation of this piece involved a kind of double and triple substitution of media—print that has a collage appearance, and protuberances in the processed ink that resemble oil painting. The titles of this series look like binary codes of Ps and Os and refer to the materials and frameworks used by the artist up to this point, and which were employed in the creation of this work: painting, object, oil, photo, and print. If one takes another look at the composition, what catches the eye are the thick orange, silver, and blue lines of spray paint visible on the surface layer, and the extremely magnified purple distortions that spread like a stain on the areas of the base layer. In the layer between those two, fluorescent color surfaces and brushstrokes overlap, and motifs such as watering hoses and tubes abruptly appear together with a concrete spatiality. Each layer has a different degree of resolution and textural quality, which gives rise to an instability where the layers repel one another and never perfectly blend. This realm of ambiguity, complexity, and instability is common to Kaneuji’s work. It is as if the liquid is slowly soaking into and encroaching upon that realm, and fantasy and fiction blur together. This approach runs through all his work, whether in 2D or 3D.

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KOHEI YAMADA untitled: Year: 2023
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 227.3 x 181.8 cm (89 1/2 x 71 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Taka Ishii Gallery, 2023

The majority of the canvas is based on an indescribable deep red. The viewer loses track of their focus, and the wide canvas appears even wider. The gaze is naturally led towards the center where something appears to be slit horizontally. Yamada often first places a bright yellow color in his works. The brightest color within this piece is also the yellow painted at the fissure. The black line and the colors of the fissure suddenly produce a space within the boundlessness. Willem de Kooning, who has been described in the past as an artist who embodies Abstract Expressionism, never let go of figurativeness throughout his career. The viewer is reminded of de Kooning’s lines when taking in the black lines of Yamada’s work. The two artists’ lines are similar in that they are in tension with the surface rather than dividing the figure and the ground. Although it has been ridiculed as “homeless representation,” if de Kooning’s work has figurativeness which he has freed from a sense of illusion by embedding the layers of line and surface on the same plane coexisting with an abstract sensibility, a significant structural difference lies in how Yamada’s work has been created with an antagonism between the two, which forms many layers on the same plane. Just as one sees an image shown at the forefront as a result of combining multiple layers in CG, Yamada’s painting contains a premise that countless hidden layers exist beneath the surface level, and the viewer anticipates that through the fissure. This is where the space (negative space) exists as a painting. This irreducible multiplicity differs from a palimpsest-like multilayering or the traces of erasure and overwriting. The fact that multiplicity is becoming a self-evident new illusion in today’s world, where painting over something does not equal its erasure, contextualizes the spatiality of this new form of abstract painting.

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AYA TAKANO Fireworks Flashed in the Darkness: Year: 2003
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 130.2 x 96.5 cm (51 1/4 x 38 in.)
Acquired from Sotheby’s, 2022

Takano Aya is often praised for her SF-like worldview, and this work also has a somewhat extraordinary scenery. In the center of the picture, a girl with big eyes, floating in the air is staring straight at the other person sitting on a rocky ground in front of her. It seems to be the sea in the west at dusk as there is a low crescent moon depicted. Right after sunset, the gloomy blue sky continues to the sea. When the night deepens, the crescent moon will disappear eventually. On the sandy beach in front, there are three children and a blue excavator. The bright object in their hands must be the fireworks mentioned in the title. Although it is an ordinary moment of a summer dusk with a calm darkness, the reality is suddenly shaken by the presence of the paranormal pair of girls.

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TOSHIYUKI KONISHI untitled: Year: 2006
Medium: oil on paper
Dimensions: 43 x 34 cm (17 x 13 3/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

The artist reached a major turning point at the Yokohama Triennale in 2008. Since then and continues to this day, Konishi began to incorporate powerful, linear strokes into his painting, and they can also be seen in this piece. This work reveals that his early works are often expressed in a figurative manner yet at the same time destroying their forms with wavy, meandering brushstrokes. Konishi’s portraits are mainly based on photographs of his family members. Despite being the closest figures to Konishi, the people depicted are simply sketched in a manner that their facial expressions seem to be stripped away. Their faces are indeed blank and emotionless. While his works are referring to snapshots of his family members, this must be an everyday scene, yet the space around this work is distorted by strangely wavy strokes in the background and is transformed into something extraordinary.

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DANIEL ARSHAM x Dior Future Relic Eroded Telephone: Year: 2020
Medium: Hydrostone and quartz crystals, hourglass, gloves with original case
Dimensions: 14 × 20.3 × 24.2 cm (5 1/2 × 8 × 9 1/2 in.)
Edition: No.** of 250
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

The motif of this work is the telephone that once sat on Christian Dior’s work desk, looking back at Dior’s heritage a thousand years from now. The term “eroded” means the crystals being crystallized when they have been shattered by corrosion. It takes an immeasurable time for the crystals to form, along with the heat of the lava and the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. Why is there an hourglass included in the “Eroded” series? It is because Arsham’s works always ramble through eternity. How many times does a small hourglass have to be measured to reach a thousand years? We would not have grasped Arshams’s imaginations without fantasizing about a timeline that is far beyond human time.

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KAZUKI UMEZAWA キャラと瓦解の理想郷 (An ideal world of characters and debris): Year: 2013
Medium: acrylic, glitter glue, oil marker, gesso, digital print, wood panel
Dimensions: 73 x 105 cm (28 3/4 x 41 3/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

Umezwa creates his works by collecting large amounts of images (mainly character images) on the internet to compose a collage-like style and layer paints over them. Parts of different characters are collected one by one carefully and are gathered to form an image of a single character as a whole. Umezawa and other artists applying digital images as a medium in the form of painting is an emerging generation with a background community creating internet memes through online drawing forums. The community continues the trend of otaku-style cultural background citation method to artworks that started from Takashi Murakami and Koudai Nakahara. In this work as well, Umezawa’s most characteristic expression of composing colors, layers, and space is seen by juxtaposing fragments of numerous existing characters like dots or image pixels.

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XU ZHEN® Under Heaven - 2026BD0175: Year: 2017
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 71 x 50 x 13 cm (28 x 19 5/8 x 5 1/8 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2022

This work exhibits ebbing-and-flowing undulations in crimson color. In the "Under Heaven" series, which includes this work, is created by squeezing out the oil paint packed in a piping bag, just like decorating a cake. As the artist himself advocates and produces art projects with reference to new pop art, Xu Zhen® visualizes the violence derived from consumption culture and mass production. Consumption generates massive amounts of waste and resource depletion. The cream-like frosting made of paint seems to serve as a metaphor for one’s vanity-seeking for being flattered by the act of consuming. The flamboyant color and the fascinating appearance indeed evoke the desire of consumption. The design of the cake is focused not only on the taste, but also on its appearance. The title "Under Heaven" corresponds to the Chinese word “tianxia” (天下), which also means "in the whole world" in Japanese. As the title reveals, this work is believed to be influenced by “Made in Heaven” by Jeff Koons, a beloved artist (also a problem child) of the contemporary art market who came earlier than Xu Zhen®︎. This work challenges the fundamental desire for erotism and consumption culture, as well as the sweet decoration - the taboo of emotions and wealth that lies underneath.

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NANAE MITOBE remember love: Year: 2022
Medium: bed, linen, oil paint, turntable, record, guitar amplifier, timer
Dimensions: 210 x 126 x 102 cm (82 5/8 x 49 5/8 x 40 1/8 in.)
Acquired from Void+, 2022

This work consists of too much texture to be called a painting. It is based on the famous performance “Bed-in for Peace” that John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged. Mitobe’s paintings are created through the literal act of grabbing the motif as the subject matter. The act of painting is generally accomplished with the use of a paintbrush (sometimes with explosives, feet or fists, etc.), and artists who respect the form of painting are conscious of a certain degree of two-dimensional flatness. This work, however, exhibits no planarity as the bed is not even horizontally stretched out. Despite this work greatly deviating from a typical painting, it is obvious that something has been “painted”. This is not only because the art medium is oil paint. The fact that a subject matter is being served as motif, this work has come to stand on its own as a result of sincerity in depiction. The works of Robert Rauschenberg, who share the same generation with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, are described as “Flatbed Picture Plane”. Deviated from vertically elevated paintings, Rauschenberg turned the painting horizontally as an expression of anti-art. In this work, Mitobe attempts to shift the revolutionary act even further by inverting it. Consequently, this work can be regarded as a revival of paintings from pre-modernism era through modernism to contemporary art.

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NANAE MITOBE Just one kiss, kiss will do?: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on linen, wood panel
Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Void+, 2022

This work is based on the last photo of Yoko Ono and John Lennon taken together by photographer Kishin Shinoyama, which was also the cover of the album “Double Fantasy” created by the couple. Lennon was shot to death within a month after the release of the album. The title of this work is taken from a line of the song 『KISS KISS KISS』in the album. Kiss is the proof of love and peace. Despite the long history of mankind when science, medical science and thoughts have all advanced today, the battle against illness has not been over, and war is still endlessly raging. Yoko and Lennon’s past advocacy of ending conflicts still has not come true. This work is Mitobe’s condemnation of society.

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NANAE MITOBE message 2: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on linen, wood panel
Dimensions: 150 x 150 cm (59 x 59 in.)
Acquired from Void+, 2022

Mitobe’s works are described as paintings that are like densely layered sculptures, but there is more than that. This work is not just merely a signboard written with a well-known slogan. To depict subject matter just as others who create with the use of paintbrush, Mitobe grabs big chunks of paint with her hands and smears them directly onto the canvas. A closer look reveals that the characters are depicted with forcefully drawn lines on an extremely coarse fabric. White color is occasionally superimposed onto the black characters to accentuate their outlines. Such practice does not appear to be simply an embellishment with the intention of reinforcement. The artist captures the shape of every single alphabet and attempts to highlight its form in a pictorial manner. She realized that the message expressed by characters will be firmly conveyed to a greater extent. Even when drawing letters, Mitobe is nevertheless, still a painter.

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THEA DJORDJADZE untitled: Year: 2019
Medium: watercolor, marker on plaster, wood frame
Dimensions: 77 x 60.5 cm (30 1/4 x 23 7/8 in.)
Acquired from TAKE NINAGAWA, 2022

As one of the prominent artists of the contemporary art scene in Georgia, Djordjadze is best known for her installation works and sculptural techniques. This work stands out as a painting, but the sculptural aspect of it stands out even more. Djordjadze uses one of her favorite materials, plaster, as the main material in this work. The plaster is densely applied to the warm wooden frame, leaving numerous scratches, and it is gently overlapped with vivid pink and aqua blue transparent watercolors as base tones. Djordjadze’s approach is undoubtedly sculptural as the plaster is embedded and used as a pigment and the bulge formed by the thickness of brush strokes or paints that appear to be engraving in a typical painting. This work does not symbolize any specific image. Rather, the materials used in the work define its form, and the image that gradually emerged from that form inspires and derives the next action, as if a new image is created while rhyming a poem. In the same way as her sculptures and installations, Djordjadze creates a surprisingly peaceful harmony with ordinary, mundane materials and transforms them into unknown entities.

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KENGO KITO cartwheel galaxy: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic, glitter, glass, spray paint on canvas
Dimensions: 160 cm (63 in.) in diameter
Acquired from rin art association, 2022

The circular canvas is superimposed with heavy layers of strokes in all directions. This work is from Kito’s recent signature series “cartwheel galaxy”. He has often incorporated primary colors in his previous works, with a basically bright coloration. Such contrast of brightness creates a sensation of color weight imbalance and is a characteristic of the artist. This work encompasses a paleness from a rather neutral color. The greenish loop-shaped strokes catch one’s attention the most, but perhaps due to the glitter effect it appears to be slightly white and bright. The numerous swirling lines on the entire base of the canvas are commonly seen in his previous works, but the unevenness in this work seems to capture light even more deeply and generate complex diffuse reflections on the painting. If one further turns the attention towards the middle of the complex layers, one can see various colors of pink, orange and aqua blue from the infinite bottom of the painting. When filled with different colors, visual distortions are created, and they are caused by the colors relatively obvious in the front and the colors from the back. This work is noteworthy because the artist seems to have ingeniously controlled over the color effects. Kito creates space with the use of color. If Kito refers to spatiality through painting, the fact that this work is in circular rather than a rectangular canvas also leads the viewer to relate the outer space that is considered to be expanding at an accelerated pace.

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NANAE MITOBE message 6: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on linen, mounted on wood panel
Dimensions: 182 x 91 cm (71 5/8 x 35 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Void+, 2022

“WAR IS NOT OVER” is boldly painted in large letters. “NOT” is added to the slogan, which apparently comes from the peace movement (carried on throughout the Vietnam War) that Yoko Ono and John Lennon had been campaigning as a message aimed for those who are in the midst of conflict. By coincidence, this work was created during the Ukraine-Russia war and the Covid-19 pandemic, both of which were major battles that had growled fiercely. Mitobe often depicts motifs of powerful messages shared by famous musicians or celebrities with distinctive social status in her works, oftentimes consciously raising issues regarding social awareness. To Mitobe, by depicting the world for those who have no control of their true feelings, she brings reality closer to the viewers and into tangible reach. Her techniques of smearing the paint with hands not only is to pursue a particular style of painting, but Mitobe obviously has the desire to be physically attached to the medium of painting.

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SHINGO FRANCIS Emerald in Teal: Year: 2020
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 76 cm (30 x 30 in.)
Acquired from Misa Shin Gallery, 2022

In this piece, a square is depicted on a square canvas. The composition is extremely simple and perfectly balanced. However, the most remarkable aspect is the coloration - the pearly green and pink tones are never fixed. If the viewer looks at it from a certain angle, it appears to be green, yet if the person moves one step away, the same area will appear pink. Inconsistent colors provide a color field painting effect and at the same time abolish its static nature.

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DAISUKE TAKAHASHI km: Year: 2017 - 2019
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 97.7 x 162.2 cm (38 1/2 x 63 7/8 in.)
Acquired from ANOMALY, 2022

The production of this work spans over two years. Takahashi occasionally modifies his works over time. This work continues from his early, well-known series “Night Painting”, though it appears to be relatively flatter as compared to substantial clumps of paint excessively employed in the past. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that this painting is extremely impasto-oriented by conventional painting standards. Countless pointillism, circles, and lines cover the entire painting, this work seems to be following a sense of regularity rather by coincidence. The coloration and balanced composition are created deliberately. This work was exhibited at “Sazaedo 2020 – Modern Spiral and a Hundred Paintings” (Art Museum & Library, Ota, 2020), as well as at “Energy Overflowing from the Gaze” (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 2022).

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MASATO KOBAYASHI 画家の肖像 (ペア) / Portrait of the artist (Pair): Year: 2021
Medium: oil, acrylic, canvas, wood
Dimensions: 190 x 165 x 25 cm (74 3/4 x 65 x 9 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Shugo Arts, 2022

On a double (paired) wooden frame, a horse is holding a paintbrush in its mouth and gazing towards the viewers. Kobayashi continues to refer to portraits of horses as “Portrait of the artist”. Instead of starting to paint after stretching canvas over a wooden frame, as if the artist states it is already “too late”, Kobayashi stretches the canvas and mounts it onto the wooden frame, then begins painting simultaneously with the preparatory actions. Kobayashi’s works established a sense of individuality. Inside the atelier, Kobayashi’s body, the wooden frame, the canvas, as well as the paint are blended together, becoming one and generating to a portrait as another identity of the artist. The wooden frame is not merely a structure that supports the painting, but also acts as bones and flesh. The canvas becomes the skin that is enclosed with bones and flesh, the paint runs through it as if blood vessels circulate in the body. “Portrait of the artist” is not just a simple depiction of likeness, perhaps it serves as an act of rebirth for the artist himself, Masato Kobayashi.

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DANIEL ARSHAM Eroded Carrera RS: Year: 2021
Medium: resin, plaster, aluminium oxide
Dimensions: 10 × 30.1 × 12.4 cm (3 7/8 x 11 7/8 x 4 7/8 in.)
Edition: #406 of 500
Acquired from Perrotin, 2022

This is a Porsche from an edition work of the “Eroded” series, referencing the 1973 produced “Porsche 911 Carrera RS2.7” which is still extremely popular ever since its debut 40 years ago. Arsham imitates the “decay” of the subject as if it had gone through the passage of time. As the title suggests, “Eroded” is a series of installations with “corrosion” as the theme, with the collapsed portion crystallized as a characteristic. Rather than simply decaying, the composition seems to undergo a process of replacement. While the expression of corrosion is deliberately employed to exemplify a collapsing image, nonetheless, perhaps he is trying to demonstrate that it is essentially timeless regardless of material replacement. Arsham's sincere respect for history is predominantly in accordance with the same series. As the artist exemplified in the concept of “Fictional Archeology”, even though the appearance is collapsing to the extent that the color is lost over time, the value of fundamental existence such as its spirit remains.

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RIKAKO KAWAUCHI Woman: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 181.8 x 227.3 cm (71 1/2 x 89 1/2 in.)
Acquired from Ginza Tsutaya Books, 2022

Kawauchi’s paintings are composed of thick oil paint and lines drawn by scratching the surface. In this work, the heart, beast, human head, and letters are depicted with deeply carved brushstrokes. The title and the red color of the artwork strongly evoke a sense of physicality (blood and flesh) in the viewer. The way the artist captures the specific forms of this work seems somewhat blatant, particularly in how the internal organs and facial expressions are depicted. Each motif appears to be given a symbolic and signifying role. For example, the beast is associated with what is probably a jaguar because of the heart and the word “Moon”, but it is supposed to be depicted as a symbolic object. In Aztec and Maya mythology, the jaguar is one of the gods of the night and the moon, bearing a name that exactly means “heart”. Moreover, the entire painting serves as a metaphor for the body. On closer inspection, various organs such as lungs, trachea, heart, and intestines are roughly positioned where they would be in the human body, containing the beast and the figures. Life is sustained by the intake of food and Kawauchi has doubted this principle since childhood. For Kawauchi, working on this theme is nothing less than confronting the primal instincts that lie within. The thick and powerful layers of paint that support the line depictions have a physicality that seems to press forward. On this point, one should not ignore the phenomenon that Kawauchi calls “resistance of the canvas”. This does not refer to the physical fact that the overwhelming mass of paint exists there as a solid. Kawauchi’s thoughts that are contained in the painting contrarily refuse her interference from within the canvas. In other words, it is a conceptual phenomenon of “resistance”, as if the work itself informs the artist that the painting is completed. This is probably the reason why Kawauchi’s paintings are drawn in such a way as to cut through the surface layer. Lines are the traces of the artist’s own resistance to the “resistance of the screen”. Although the painting has a strong semblance of figurativeness, it could also be considered an essentially conceptual painting that expresses Kawauchi’s inner abstract concepts.

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RIKAKO KAWAUCHI grow: Year: 2023
Medium: neon light
Dimensions: 45 x 20 x 20 cm (17 3/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Lurf Museum, 2023

A spatial drawing with neon tubes emitting vibrant red light. Kawauchi considers line an important element in her two-dimensional works on canvas and paper. In her words, line depictions express the “primitive” in the act of drawing. Line drawings can be seen in many ancient wall paintings, and it is said that the origin of painting was to imitate the outline of a loved one’s silhouette. Therefore, lines are likely to have a fundamental role in artistic expression. Kawauchi considers painting as something that is associated with spatiality. Since painting is about creating on a blank sheet of paper or blank space and spatiality arises by placing a line on it, this work as a three-dimensional work should also be called a line depiction rather than a sculpture in its essence. Red holds a special significance for Kawauchi and is used in most of her works. The neon series which this work is a continuation of, is derived from the original use of red lines in her paintings. In oil painting, lines cannot exist without the support of a canvas, but neon lines depiction frees it from that dependency. The electrons flowing in the gas inside the neon tube collide with the neon atoms, resulting in red emission. This work is titled “grow” which has a fluid nuance of “grow” or “extend”. It may be an analogy that overlaps the particles circulating in the neon tube like primitive life and the “primitive” that appears in the lines of Kawauchi’s work.

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RIKAKO KAWAUCHI heart and heads: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 227.3 x 227.3 cm (89 1/2 x 89 1/2 in.)
Acquired from N&A Art SITE, 2023

This artwork was presented at the solo exhibition “line & colors,” held at N&A Art SITE, an art space organized by art critic and curator Fumio Nanjo. Color and lines are distinctive features in Kawauchi’s work, and Nanjo interprets line as the spirit, and colors as the body. His assessment, in no uncertain terms, is that Kawauchi’s work is elevated by the way that the artist sublates the oppositional relationship between the two. In this piece, a dynamic set of lines is used to portray an enormous upper body that cradles a heart. A chain of animal and human heads surrounds the figure, evoking a sense of the beastly nature that lurks in the shadows of humanity. An overwhelming mass of red forms the basis of the work’s color palette, and that serves as a fitting representation of the body. The spirit is the metaphysical essence of a human being, as opposed to the materiality of the body. Kawauchi lives with doubts about the fundamental, life-sustaining activities of eating, digesting, and excreting. Indeed, the fact that these uncertainties occupy no small part of the artist’s mind is the motivation for her creative practice. However, this spiritual side harbors contradictions that are torturous for the body. Nanjo refers to Agamben in describing Kawauchi’s inner conflict as love likely with Agamben’s concept of “bare life” (zoe) in mind. Kawauchi does not live within society in the conventional sense. This is a unique painting of the spirit and the body that could only have been created by Kawauchi, who has persistently confronted and resisted the purity of life of a human as an animal.

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KENGO KITO big rip: Year: 2021
Medium: acrylic, glitter, glass, spray, brass, aluminum, cloth on canvas, mounted on wood panel
Dimensions: 100 x 80.5 cm (39 3/8 x 31 5/8 in.)
Acquired from rin art associations, 2022

This work contains a variety of materials as if trying to be stuffed with Kito’s overwhelming imagination. The extended square-shaped base panel attached with colorful fabrics is being twisted inward and highly deformed. The boldly deviated loop-shaped structure projected away from the canvas surface area, almost hesitate to call this a painting. In the same way as Kito’s ongoing creation of hula hoop installations, this work makes the viewer imagine that the loop is extending outward into another space behind the screen that it penetrates. “big rip” is a theoretical hypothesis about the expansion and extinction of the universe. Kito visualized the image inside his brain in two dimensions, further expands the space, and takes the element of time insatiably into his creation to imitate the accelerating expansion of the universe. If we are to cross the tipping point one day, will creativity ever cease even if the universe comes to an end?

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MITSUO KANO “Breast Region No. 74” ≪胸壁にて≫NO.74: Year: 1981
Medium: oil on paper
Dimensions: 40.5 x 31 cm (16 x 12 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Galerie Tokyo Humanité, 2022

Kanois a printmaker who started his career as a self-taught artist. Although he is a solitary printmaker who has accumulated different expressions for each series, he has been producing oil paintings since 1980. When carrying out research on beeswax as a printing material, he became interested in oil paints, and it is said to be the reason for him to shift to oil painting. Kano’s first ever published oil painting was “Breast Region”. It is created by pouring melted paint onto the horizontally placed paper or canvas, and making it flow by the static electricity of a transparent film. The common parts of this series are the six ears and the white lines separating the colored surfaces. Kano was strongly influenced by his close friend, Takiguchi Shuzo, making it interesting to interpret the picture in comparison with Takiguchi's Decalcomania works that show similarities.

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NIR HOD The Life We Left Behind: Year: 2022
Medium: oil under chromed canvas with patina
Dimensions: 228.6 x 162.6 cm (90 x 64 in.)
Acquired from KOTARO NUKAGA, 2022

“The Life We Left Behind” is considered the most representative work of Hod, with a mirror-like metallic surface. The production process is rather complicated. A chrome film was created on an oil painted canvas, and it covers the surface like plating. It is then degraded and peeled off by using chemical reactions of acid and ammonia. The chrome layer reflects the image and the light gently like a dull mirror, and with the rust-like shadow caused by oxidation. The picture of shadow and light that is different from one with coloring creates a mysterious contrast with the oil painting layer. Standing in front of this artwork, one will inevitably recognize their own reflection shimmering like a heat haze. A glass mirror reflects the superficial surface of someone’s figure. Though for Hod’s work, there is no clear reflection, but instead it throws back the sight at an even deeper part of the person. Hod’s mirror appeals to the viewer’s inner self. As the title of this work “The Life We Left Behind” suggests, there is a past of one’s own that nobody else can see, and it ultimately prompts thoughts about the future.

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NIR HOD Echo of Memories: Year: 2022
Medium: oil, chrome, acid, dirt on canvas
Dimensions: 228.6 x 162.6 cm (113 5/8 x 64 in.)
Acquired from Kotaro Nukaga, 2022

This work was exhibited at the artist’s first solo exhibition in Tokyo with the same title. It was slightly different from the rest of his exhibits, but this work was given the most symbolic role. In this exhibition, Hod presented a series of paintings based on images of found photos, alongside his representative work, “The Life We Left Behind” series characterized by the chrome mirror surfaces. Found photo is a past reality left by a stranger that revived in the present by being replaced with a painting. It is equivalent to giving new life to the ghosts of the past. Photography is a technique that optically preserves a scene of reality, but it can also be understood as a mirrored projection of the likeness of reality. This work was purposedly placed together with “The Life We Left Behind”, which is also in Ueshima Collection. No doubt it was done intentionally by the artist as two works are mirrors of each other. While “The Life We Left Behind” reflects objects physically, this work, although it does not seem to be reflecting anything, vividly captures spirituality. The approximation of colors and the contrast of composition both form a mental similarity, or in photographic sense, they clearly show the contrasting relationship of the negative and the positive.

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KEISUKE TADA Heaven’s Door #5: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on canvas, wood panel
Dimensions: 180 x 135 x 6 cm (70 7/8 x 53 1/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Mitsukoshi Contemporary Gallery, 2022

"Heaven's Door" series is based on a set of gate doors that were used in France in 17th century. In the world of video games that is often set in the medieval century, the architecture and design of this era are often followed. For Tada, a video game lover, old gates which should have been relics of the past in the real world, were something he saw while playing video games and felt a sense of déjà vu. Even if one looks at it in the game, it is an object that can never be touched by hand in reality. Tada surprisingly created this work as a painting with paint. It is not a relief or casting, but a mass of paint. The artist holds an ax facing right in front of the finished work. The documentary of this work reveals that the artist was extremely concentrated while stabbing onto the doors with the ax. Tada demonstrates his earnest urge to destroy the boundary between reality (the artist's body) and virtual space (the door of the game), which should never have come into contact. The particularly bright yellow color of the inner part of the work, which was exposed by the ax wound, leaves a vivid impression that it is not a tree (door) at all and entirely unrealistic.

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KEISUKE TADA trace/wood #80: Year: 2022
Medium: oil on canvas, wood panel
Dimensions: 80.5 x 80.5 x 6 cm (31 5/8 x 31 5/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Mitsukoshi Contemporary Gallery, 2022

多田はヴァーチャル空間の物質の再現性(テクスチャ)と現実のギャップを取り沙汰している。ゲーム内のグラフィックがいかに本物のように見えても、それはあくまで虚像なのである。「trace」シリーズでは、様々なものを絵具を使って再現していくが、それはもはや描くという行為を逸脱しており、絵具という素材を使った彫刻的なアプローチといっても過言ではない。素地となるのはあくまで多田の卓越した画家としての描写技術に他ならないが、あまりに物体然とした作品を前にしてそれを絵画と称するには少々の戸惑いを感じることだろう。本作も、一見すると薄汚れた木の床材が壁に打ち付けられているようにしか見えない。ゲーム内で仮想的に作られたものの違和感を、そのまま現実空間に持って出てきてしまったかのような、壁に掛けられた床を前にして「非実在の存在」とでも言うべきレトリックについて考えるのである。

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YUTAKA AOKI Untitled: Year: 2021
Medium: acrylic, spray paint, aluminum paint on cotton mounted on wood panel
Dimensions: 162 x 130 cm (63 3/4 x 51 1/8 in.)
Acquired from KOSAKU KANECHIKA, 2022

On a background of extreme light and dark gradations descending from light to dark blue, the top and the bottom section are strongly divided by a horizontal, mountain-like ridgeline. As if the crust of the earth had been gathered to form a peak, the silver paint was probably carried gradually towards the center from the upper and lower side of the canvas. The strong undulation of the surface creates deeper shadows and more intense reflections of light. It is also often seen in Aoki’s works that the surface of the raised paint has been lightly spray-painted. Upon closer look, one can recognize the light green on the upper part, and blue on the lower. As viewers’ eyes get used to the colors, the two colors become gradually visible even though they are being overshadowed by the strong reflections of silver. The contrast of light and shadow, the brightness and darkness of colors, and the bold composition dividing the top and the bottom section. Aoki’s multilayered thoughts are all concentrated in a single painting.

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DIEGO Standing straight: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic, aerosol on canvas
Dimensions: 145.5 x 112 cm (57 1/4 x 44 in.)
Acquired from Gallery TRAX, 2022

This work depicts DIEGO’s typical motif - to personify a spray can into a huge character. That paint which was expected to be sprayed is leaking heavily through the nozzle on top of the spray can. Through the gaps within the city, DIEGO's work depicts matters that have been neglected. Something is being depicted on the wall that is used for graffiti draws one’s attention. In fact, the path is full of obstacles, and often puts the street artists in dangerous positions. They use ladders, climb over fences, and often walk away with a message in one fell swoop. Street art has the nature of mobility. In New York, street artists illegally paint over subways which are constantly circling around the city. This work, too, depicting scribble-like symbols but not characters, and coloring with aerosol spray (instead of brushstrokes), conveys the reality of street art that always demands speedy creativity.

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DIEGO Red Ladder, Long nose: Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic, aerosol on canvas
Dimensions: 90 x 34 cm (35 3/8 x 13 3/8 in.)
Acquired from Gallery TRAX, 2022

This work depicts a ladder as the title suggests. The entire piece is in an extremely long and narrow rectangular shape to match the red ladder that extends up and down. Ladder has been a motif for DIEGO’s previous works. Ladder is not only an indispensable tool for street artists, but it also gives an implication of climbing over and overcoming challenges for Diego. Street artists break through every barrier with ladders and draw silently in the darkness of the night. Their passion for creation is not expressed by voice, but rather by spraying paint onto the walls. “Ladder” means more than just a ladder; it also means social status. DIEGO, however, would not paint just to reach for the height of fame. Instead, if there are high walls that block their way, they would overcome and walk through another path to reach the other side of insatiable creativity.

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