Presented by The Culture Story in collaboration with Micheko Galerie Exhibition Date : 28 October 2023 ¬29 Dec 2023

Written by : Audreh Hoi

Be awed by the pieces you see as the exhibition features contemporary Japanese art from seven prominent Japanese artists. These artists showcase a wide variety of mediums and conceptual approaches reflecting their unique styles and personalities and their dedication to perfection of their art. They redefined and pushed the boundaries of art giving us great delight in admiring their skills, patience and attention to details while creating master pieces challenging traditional norms. This exhibition leaves you with admiration and deeper appreciation of Japanese culture and their creative use of mediums to express their artistic creativity.

We share a few highlights as below.

Katsumi HAYAKAWA

Grapheme

2020 archival paper, acrylic gouche, acrylic medium, ink-jet printing on paper mounted on panel 65 x 46 x 7 cm

The above is part of an art piece created by Katsumi HAYAKAWA.

From afar, this piece looks like a futuristic contemporary art piece which will fit into any modern home. It is the details that make it interesting as it looks like an arial view of an industrial estate, the layers were painstakingly put together to create a completely different look from a distance. It tells a different story from near and from afar. Do go to the exhibition to see the other story from afar.

Eri OTA

She is pretty, but a bit funny 2

2019, Lithography

Eri’s art pieces have a unique feature – they do not capture complete frontal shots of their female subjects. These pieces have stories to tell, of the obsession of females to present their most beautiful fronts to attract males, of a society obsessed with beauty and perfection and the undermining of

rights and interest of females. In this piece, while bright lights shine on a beautiful back, we do not see the true self of the subject facing the darkness.

Mari Ito

Origin of Desire – Dialogue, Good Energy, Little Desires

Wood panel, Japanese paper, pigment sumi,nikawa glue, Oguni wash

Some delightful pieces by Mari Ito brings joy to the senses. Trained in traditional Japanese painting (Nihonga), her works references kimono designs and Ikebana, a Japanese style of flower

arrangement. The use of vivid colours bears a strong resemblance to the colours of her adopted home in Barcelona.

Toru FUKUDA

Wood inlay of Flowers and Butterflies – Water Absorption, Flying, Swoop, 2021

This zoomed-in is part of an intricate three-piece Wood Inlay of Flowers and Butterflies done by Toru Fukuda in 2021. We were told the materials and colours are all from natural wood beautifully put together to create this textured piece reflecting artistic simplicity.

Kenichi YOKONO

12 zodiac animal signs

2017, Woodcut

Kenichi YOKONO works reflect Japanese Pop and Manga culture. He uses traditional woodblock craving methods as well as white and red color themes to tell stories of horror, fascination and imagination.

The above are some highlights of the pieces on exhibition. The photographs are snapshots to capture the beauty of the pieces from different angles. They may not capture entire pieces and are meant to be so to give viewers incentive to visit the exhibition to discover them for yourself.

Reference :

The Culture Story, MICHEKO GALERIE

@Photographs are rights of MeetArts. All rights reserved.