Group Exhibition | GROUP SHOW: 4 ARTISTS

그룹전 | GROUP SHOW: 4 ARTISTS

INSTALLATION VIEW “GROUP SHOW: 4 ARTISTS”, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist and KOSAKU KANECHIKA.

 

KOSAKU KANECHIKA is pleased to present the exhibition “GROUP SHOW: 4 ARTISTS” from August 31st to September 28th, 2024.

The show presents work by Yutaka Aoki, Junko Oki, Ryu Takeda, and Emi Mizukami.

 

Yutaka Aoki uses acrylic paint to create abstract works with substantial impasto to study light and its organic, three-dimensional qualities. Aoki observes light as a multi-faceted element that grants information on the world and is also an indicator of the passage of time. His paintings oscillate between two- and three-dimensionality, and respond not only to materials and production processes, but also to specific elements in their environment, including the relationship with the audience’s gaze, the passage of time, and the conditions of the exhibition space. Light imbues his work with an intrinsic richness, providing a visual experience that awakens the natural human senses desensitized by our increasingly digital lives.

 

INSTALLATION VIEW “GROUP SHOW: 4 ARTISTS”, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist and KOSAKU KANECHIKA.

 

Junko Oki engraves stories of life onto textiles, with each stitch placed meticulously by hand. Without the guide of an underdrawing, she creates unique motifs and patterns by freehand stitching and by rejecting the structured tradition of embroidery. Although her works display seemingly rudimentary techniques, the artist’s instinctive approach awakens a visceral reaction in viewers. Through her unique embroidery and careful attention, Junko Oki breathes new life into aged textiles, frames, and other objects. These objects, with years of stories already embedded into them, are revived by Okiʼs hand through a series of attentive stitches. They include everything that came into being, and chronologies that once existed but are now gone. At the core of Okiʼs creative process is a discovery of new horizons through layered impressions of time.

 

Ryu Takeda’s paintings evoke the imagery of accidental stains or scars. He remarks that the memories and characteristics of the rural forests from his childhood are expressed not only through his sight, but through sound, smell and touch. Takeda, who often compares the act of painting to an excavation, paints to unearth the unconscious realm that has been lost through verbalization and classification.

 

INSTALLATION VIEW “GROUP SHOW: 4 ARTISTS”, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist and KOSAKU KANECHIKA.

 

Emi Mizukami creates paintings that exist as an accumulation of temporal actions. Filling her canvases with imagery derived from ancient and modern mythologies and folklores from around the world, as well as historical fables and tragedies, the artist repeatedly paints new images over them, covering each layer with pigments mixed with sand. The multi-layered paintings born from this approach do not offer a static viewing experience to the human retina, but rather arouse the imagination, evoking things such as the passage of time in ways unbeknownst to man, reality, and virtuality.

 

Yutaka Aoki will be exhibiting a large-scale painting presented in Japan for the first time. Junko Oki displays a new work alongside two recent pieces, Ryu Takeda presents approximately 8 new paintings, and Emi Mizukami will exhibit three paintings, including new work. We cordially invite you to our upcoming group show at KOSAKU KANECHIKA.

 

INSTALLATION VIEW “GROUP SHOW: 4 ARTISTS”, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist and KOSAKU KANECHIKA.

WEB     INSTAGRAM