EXHIBITIONS

SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery opening in Hong Kong

Inaugural Opening Reception: Saturday, Nov 24, 17:00-20:00
Featuring: Tomoo Gokita
Dates: Nov 24, 2018 – Mar 16, 2019

On November 24, 2018, Taka Ishii Gallery will open “SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery,” a new concept-based retail shop in Starstreet Precinct, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery aims to create an experimental retail space that transcends the boundary between “gallery” and “shop” by having different artists and designers freely explore the spatial design and exhibit selected works and other products in approximately three month cycles.

The painter Tomoo Gokita will direct the inaugural cycle. Under Gokita’s direction, SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery will feature new works painted in acrylic gouache on plywood and paper; painted over publicity photos, which the artist has made for the first time; and rare sculptural works also made by the artist. Known as a peerless record collector, Gokita has been frequently inspired by music throughout his career and all of the music played in SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery will be selected by Gokita during this cycle. Additionally, numerous CD’s and LP’s with jackets designed by Gokita, who has drawn attention from the music industry since the start of his career, including Diskaholics’ Live in Japan Vol.1 (2005) and YMO’s 40th anniversary compilation NEUE TANZ released in October this year, will be available for purchase alongside t-shirts designed by Gokita. Most of the latter will feature motifs related to professional wrestling, which the artist has called his “spiritual home.”

Tomoo Gokita
Born in 1969 in Tokyo. In the late 1990s, Gokita received acclaim for drawings made with charcoal and ink on paper. His first book Lingerie Wrestling was published in 2000. Starting with a show in New York in 2006, Gokita has exhibited his works in solo exhibitions internationally. In recent years, he has produced abstract paintings alongside figurative works made in black and white. In 2012, his work was included in “The Unseen Relationship: Form and Abstraction” held at Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art. In 2014, his solo exhibition “THE GREAT CIRCUS” was held at the same. In April 2018, his solo exhibition “PEEKABOO” was held at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery.

SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery
Shops 4A & 4B, UG/F, Bo Fung Mansion, No.1 St. Francis Yard, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
tel: +852 3619 0011 fax: +852 3618 9824
mail: tighk@takaishiigallery.com
Gallery hours: 11:00 – 19:00
Closed on Mon

SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery scheduled programming:

Michael Anastassiades / Spring 2019
Lighting designer Michael Anastassiades will show his lighting fixtures and an installation of new furniture pieces.

Nobuyoshi Araki / Summer 2019
Alongside items made in collaboration with fashion brands, Araki’s rare and in-print books, of which over 400 have been published to date, will be available for sale.

Taka Ishii Gallery
Taka Ishii Gallery opened in 1994 and for approximately a quarter century since, it has represented Japan’s most important photographers, including Nobuyoshi Araki, Daido Moriyama, and Naoya Hatakeyama, painters, and up and coming artists. The gallery was also one of the first in Japan to look abroad and regularly participate in foreign art fairs such as Art Basel and the Frieze Art Fair and played an important role in establishing the reputations of its artists abroad. At the same time, it has organized exhibitions of works by highly acclaimed foreign artists such as Thomas Demand, Dan Graham, Sterling Ruby, and Cerith Wyn Evans and young foreign artists on the rise, proactively introducing trends in Euro-American contemporary to Japan. In February 2011, Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film, specializing in photographic works, opened. Gallery founder Takayuki Ishii also established the Fine Art Photography Association in May 2014 to help the further development of the Japanese photo world, which has a unique context.

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