EXHIBITIONS

Dinos Chapman “ƎVƎI⅃Ǝꓭ” 

Dates: May 6 – Jul 9, 2023
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi
Opening reception: Saturday, May 6, 17:00 – 19:00

The gallery will implement necessary measures to prevent coronavirus infections.

Taka Ishii Gallery is pleased to present Dinos Chapman’s solo exhibition “ƎVƎI⅃Ǝꓭ” from May 6 to July 9, 2023. Chapman will be the first artist to exhibit at the new Maebashi gallery and the exhibition will feature a selection of recent oil paintings and works on paper, six of which have been newly created for the exhibition.

As an established artist for three decades, Dinos Chapman is known for his collaboration with his brother Jake. Since 2021, Chapman has been operating his own singular artistic practice. Focusing on the mediums of painting and drawing, Chapman continues his long-standing interests in art history (such as Goya’s etchings), social commentary, word play and the absurdness of human existence.

Using murky environments and unsettling figures, Chapman subverts childhood imagery, such as with work whose ground is composed of a clearly worn book of nursery rhymes made with reclaimed paper. While the figures are soft, rounded doll-like boys, girls, and bunny rabbits in hues of gentle colors, they are ensconced in haunted landscapes. The introduction of nooses and ladders work with the techniques of employing negative space, dripping paint and swaths of black turpentine to twist the work into a space where the narrative is as unclear as it is unsettling. Titles reference psychological horror films such as Funny Games, or short stories like Here There Be Tygers, along with the contemporary cult surrounding mental wellness such as Mindfulness and the Art of Managing Anger. Chapman brings to Maebashi his vision of the macabre, the absurd, and the tender which seem to highlight our disjointed information age with his singular sense of biting humor.

Dinos Chapman was born in London, United Kingdom in 1962 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London from 1988 to 1990. Dinos Chapman’s recent solo exhibitions include “Just the End of the World Again” at Ratio 3, San Francisco (2022) and “Blood Shit + Fluff” at One Trick Pony (2021), Los Angeles, USA. The Chapman Brothers’ work has been exhibited internationally in major and prominent institutions and galleries. Their work belongs to several prestigious collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA; Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA; Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy; Tate Gallery, London, UK.

Press Release Download