EXHIBITIONS
Group Exhibition
Dates: Mar 20 – Apr 28, 2024
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi
Participating artists: Kotomi Atsuchi, Shogo Harada, Reika Takebayashi, Kei Yamamoto, Shimpei Yoshida
Opening reception: Wednesday, Mar 20, 17:00 – 19:00
Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi is pleased to present a group exhibition of the work of Kotomi Atsuchi, Shogo Harada, Reika Takebayashi, Kei Yamamoto, and Shimpei Yoshida from Wednesday, March 20 to Sunday, April 28. This show features works by artists born in the 1990s whose explorations range from the nuances of daily life to distant entities.
Kotomi Atsuchi was born in 1994 in Nagasaki Prefecture and currently lives and works in Chiba Prefecture. She graduated in 2016 with a BA (major in oil painting) from Kyoto University of Art and Design, and in 2019 with a master’s degree (MFA) in the same field from Tokyo University of the Arts. Fascinated by the subtle dynamics of scenes and phenomena she perceives, Atsuchi employs a distinctive process of superimposing thin layers of acrylic paint mixed with glossy medium, slightly altering each layer and repeating the procedure numerous times. This meticulous practice of adding layers, one per day, extends over several months until the work is complete. Her early subjects included automobiles, which go through annual model changes and gradually change shape over time, but in recent works she has turned her focus to landscape. These paintings hint at the gradual transformation of the earth, imperceptible to human beings, caused by the movement of tectonic plates, and the canvases resemble mirages generated by the refraction of light. The physical qualities of Atsuchi’s paintings remind us that the surfaces of objects represent the accumulation of all the changes they have undergone throughout history.
Shogo Harada was born in 1997 in Kyoto Prefecture, where he currently lives and works. He graduated in 2020 with a BA (major in oil painting) from Kyoto University of Art and Design, and completed a master’s degree (MFA) in the same field at Kyoto University of the Arts in 2022. Harada’s paintings are based on his own snapshots of everyday scenes. Each work integrates two viewpoints: a historical perspective on worlds that no longer exist, and macroscopic view that reassesses these worlds as they are transmuted into art. The resulting images, filtered through these multiple lenses, feature central motifs that lack the full resolution of a photograph, with visible brushwork that renders details abstract to the point where they resemble vague memories. Harada has said that in the aftermath of his departure from a place, he reflects on the place where he is no longer present, and this sensibility informs his works which present a fresh approach to the depiction of landscape.
Reika Takebayashi was born in 1998 in Osaka Prefecture and lives and works in Kyoto Prefecture. She graduated in 2020 with a BA (major in oil painting) from Kyoto University of Art and Design, and completed her master’s degree (MFA) in the same field at Kyoto City University of Arts in 2022. Takebayashi observes natural phenomena in her surroundings, such as the glimmer of light on a brook’s rippling surface or patterns on the surfaces of rocks, and produces paintings featuring irregularly undulating lines, shapes, and color fields that interact and generate movement across the canvas. Layers of brushwork suggest the transient nature of time, inviting viewers to look beyond the confines of the canvas as if peering through a window onto a faraway scene. Alongside her paintings, this exhibition presents ceramic tile works made in her Kyoto studio and kiln-fired at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park. Her experimental approaches to shaping clay and applying glazes result in works conveying active engagement with the unpredictable and hard-to-control outcomes inherent in the creative process.
Kei Yamamoto was born in 1997 in Kochi Prefecture and lives and works in Kyoto Prefecture. He graduated in 2020 with a BA (major in oil painting) from Kyoto University of Art and Design, and completed a master’s degree (MFA) in sculpture at Aichi University of the Arts in 2022. Drawing on experiences traveling alone in Europe during his student years, Yamamoto produces works that explore connections with nature transcending human cognition and the movements of people and objects. He selects different media depending on the work, including video, photography, and sculptures assembled from readymades. His works in this exhibition are primarily derived from research on migratory birds, with meticulous examinations of various phenomena laying bare hidden relationships and interactions. In the current era, with information technology permeating every aspect of daily life and eroding our awareness of subtle changes, Yamamoto’s practice represents an endeavor to reestablish fundamental bonds with nature.
Shimpei Yoshida was born in 1992 in Nara Prefecture and lives and works in Tokyo. He graduated in 2014 with a BA (major in oil painting) from Kyoto University of Art and Design. Yoshida’s tranquil portraits are inspired by photos from the album of an unknown family found at a flea market during a stay in Hamburg, as well as by personal experiences shared with his grandmother shortly before her passing. He has said that in the former he delved into the history of a long-ago family, reflecting on the people captured in the photos and the absent father figure (evidently the man behind the camera), while in the latter he contemplated the scenes that his grandmother, who seemed a distant presence despite their close relationship, viewed in her final moments. As he reiterates a process of applying pale colors and then wiping the canvas with a cloth, the portrayed figures gradually blur and recede, taking on an anonymous quality. In these evocatively titled paintings, the faintly rendered faces merge with those of individuals lingering in viewers’ memories, inciting the creation of personal narratives.
