Written by ART Driven Tokyo
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
What kind of an exhibition is curated by an astrologer on the theme of “the pursuit of fundamental nature and the quest for mysterious truth”? Moreover, the gallery owner is a renowned art dealer who has interacted with Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat and has introduced them professionally to Japan. Hearing that he not only handles major artists but is also enthusiastic about fostering young artists, I was so excited to visit the show.
As I walked south of Ueno’s Shinobazu Pond through the office buildings, I found a lobster character relaxing inside a building with a glass wall on the street. The lobster that greeted me was the work of Philippe Colbert.
This is the contemporary art gallery Sho+1, which is showing “new age entropy” (until December 23, 2023), a group exhibition by four new generation artists.
When we think of artists in the history of art who have dealt with the theme of mystery, Odilon Redon, who expressed the world of the unconscious, and René Magritte, who pursued mysterious images, come to mind. Now, what kind of world will these young Japanese artists of this era show me?
Uncertain Dreams, the World of the Unconscious. Like Redon and Magritte
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
Reon Otsuka currently studies at a graduate school of Musashino Art University, and established his unique combination of satin fabric and ink, rooted in “Post Painterly Abstraction” movement by Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis in the late 50’s in America. He succeeded in expressing the mystique and the complex nature of human nature through the technique of smearing ink on satin.
I think that Otsuka established this technique after much experimentation with the speed of ink blotting and the method of smearing. And while the smearing can be controlled to some extent, it is still subject to randomness, which is what makes it so interesting.
The vagueness of borderline by smudges of ink complements violent factors lurked behind his work by revealing complicated relationship of people to people and elements to elements. Simultaneously there are also contradictory terms to be existed such as kindness and empathy. His work explores the range of spirituality that anyone can sympathize by focusing the complicated inner nature of human beings.
His works stirs the imagination. I was moved. It has a strong power to make the audience wonder, “What is it?” and it attracts the viewer’s attention. What looks like a wire mesh over the figures may be some kind of filter. The layers added to the composition explore a spiritual realm that everyone can relate to.
Odilon Redon (1840-1916), in his lithograph collection “In My Dreams,” created many works that delve into the world of uncertain dreams and the unconscious. René Magritte (1898-1967) depicted the inherent mystery of the world through such wondrous works as a rock floating in midair, a blue sky cut out in the shape of a bird, and a shoe with fingers.
The word “New Age” in the title of this exhibition is based on the Western astrological idea of moving into a new era. The curator of the exhibition is astrologer Koya Komatsu. This is the kind of approach that an astrologer would take when examining this age of material world, and information overload in this chaotic contemporary society(increasing entropy in the brain).
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
Beyond the Control of the Artist, Energy is Generated
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
1 Second Angel 9 is an unidentified artist by calls herself “I am AI.”
I got the impression that there was an element of automatic writing. Are the lines then produced by the flow of rhythm? Not all of them may have been intended by the artist. It is latent, and subconscious. The Black Devil does not draw too much and stops at a good point. There should be room for the audience to imagine and add to it. When the work allow for ambiguity, various points of view come in and create a mystique that is beyond the artist’s control.
Free-spirited, strong strokes, and energetic. I felt power. It has momentum and courage, as if it were a collision of feelings.
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
Retro Pop Like Alice in Wonderland
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
Courtesy of the artist and Sho＋1
Inspired by Japanese pop culture, Konomi Makishi‘s main theme is women. Her retro-pop has the feel of a modern version of Alice in Wonderland. Mysterious animals, and strange food.
I like the colorful and feminine atmosphere. Works using woolen yarns have an aspect of being limited by the characteristics of the material. Again, I felt a magical interest here, where the artist’s control is limited.
The Beauty of the Illusion that is Just There
nananao (work: upper right in the photo) is a female photographer who is a mania of the female body and professes “I want to capture the beauty to exist there, since there is no good or bad on naked body.” Her soft sexual expression supported by her aesthetic sense and the created nude images for the wholeness of the female body which is somehow filled up with sadness refutes an objectified traditional female image and pursues the female body as it stands.
Shot on film, the image has a so-called “over” look, with white diffused and blurred. The way she captures light is unique, and she seems to be an artist who values light. This is what makes it so fantastic. The diffusion and unevenness of the light is a tasteful and beautiful feature.
The artist is sometimes said to have a “Ueda-cho,” like the photographer Shoji Ueda. Ueda “arranges” and photographs models in places such as the Tottori Sand Dunes. nananano does not “place” people, but rather allows the models to move freely and capture the moment. Taking pictures of moving people means that there are many coincidences over which the artist has no control, and here, too, there is an added force beyond her control. This is where the mystery is born.
Now that AI, NFT, and many other elements have been added to the context of art, what does it take to demonstrate one’s talent as an artist in this age when it is said that anyone can become an artist?
It may be the energy to explore the complex nature of human nature, as Redon and Magritte also searched for, and to explore the wonders of human beings and the world that transcend the artist’s power. Seeing this exhibition, in which these things are expressed in pop form, I was moved by the young creativity.
Exhibition Overview
Titile: Reon Otsuka, nananano, Konomi Makishi, 1 Second Angel 9 Group Exhibition “new age entropy”
Period: November 25th – December 23rd, 2023. The exhibition ended.
Venue: Sho＋1, Ueno Yokoyama Building 1F 1−4−8 Ueno, Taito-ku Tokyo 110-0005
Access: Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line Yushima St. Exit 6 Tokyo Metro Ginza Line Suehirocho St. Exit 4
Hours: 12:00 – 18:00 / Closed on Mon. Sun. Holiday
Free Adimission
