EXHIBITIONS

Shinpei Kusanagi “where water comes together with other water”

Dates: Jan 25 – Mar 9, 2013
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto
Opening reception: Friday, Jan 25, 18:00 – 20:00

Download

Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto is pleased to present “where water comes together with other water,” an exhibition by Shinpei Kusanagi from January 25 to March 9.

A place that is no place in particular is also any place. With a slight modification, the English word nowhere, used to describe “no place in particular,” becomes now here or the place where one is now.
The train station, which is neither Kiyosumi nor Shirakawa, is simultaneously both Kiyosumi and Shirakawa. Once you climb the stairs and exit the station, you may find yourself in the town where I was born or a town in which a stranger lives. Is it possible to intentionally stay in such a place that is both nowhere and anywhere?
                                                                                                   Shinpei Kusanagi

For five years starting in the fall of 2007, Kusanagi published a drawing of landscapes and plants in the Kiyosumi Shirakawa area to accompany each installment of Teru Miyamoto’s novel Mizu no katachi [the shape of water] serialized in the monthly magazine éclat (published by Shueisha). Kusanagi’s first book Kiyosumi kaiwai [Kiyosumi and its Environs] (to be published by Kyuryudo) will feature original drawings made for the serial novel as well as Kusanagi’s own writings.

Book Title: Kiyosumi kaiwai [Kiyosumi and its Environs]
Author: Shinpei Kusanagi
Specifications: A5 Size, 176 Pages and 61 Color photo reproductions
Design: Akira Sasaki
Published by Kyuryudo http://www.kyuryudo.co.jp/

The current exhibition marks the publication of Kiyosumi kaiwai [Kiyosumi and its Environs], a book of Shinpei Kusanagi’s drawings and writings, from Kyuryudo; the exhibition will feature approximately 60 original drawings from the book as well new acrylic-on-canvas paintings. By overlaying the seemingly disparate facets of his work––paintings and book illustrations––onto the city of Kiyosumi Shirakawa, Kusanagi carefully examines the commonalities between them.

Born in Tokyo in 1973. His recent major exhibitions include, “project N 45 KUSANAGI Shinpei” (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2011), “VOCA” (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, 2011) and “Towing Voyage” (Altman Siegel Gallery S/F, San Francisco, 2009).