Title : SHODO CONTEMPORARY
Period : April 19 Friday, 2024 – May 11 Saturday, 2024
*Closed : Sundays, Mondays, Holidays
Opening hours : 13:00 – 19:00
Venue : LAG（LIVE ART GALLERY）/ 2-4-11 1F Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001
Opening Reception: April 20 Saturday, 18:00 – 20:00
“SHODO CONTEMPORARY”, a group exhibition by Gakushu Tanaka, Saori Kunihiro, and Ouma will be held at LAG（LIVE ART GALLERY) from Friday, April 19 to Saturday, May 11, 2024.
Avant-garde Japanese calligraphy started shortly after World War Ⅱ to create a new history of Japanese calligraphy, reaching mighty in the 1950s with an encounter with abstract expressionism paintings and the appearance of Yuichi Inoue, who received international recognition.
In the decades since then, the world of Japanese calligraphy has developed continuously up to the present day, but except for a few artists, has remained far from the global context of Art.
In recent years, several artists have emerged who are conscious of that kind of situation and are making challenging attempts to explore the possibilities of calligraphy as a form of expression.
The three up-and-coming artists featured in this exhibition all mutating and expanding the identity of Japanese calligraphy, reflect a modern perspective in their works, and present Japanese calligraphy as a contemporary art form.
Although Gakushu Tanaka, stance on the traditional techniques he has cultivated since his childhood, he introduces the concept of architecture into his calligraphy and attempts to expand his field of expression by using drawings and symbols to fantastically create three-dimensional calligraphy on a flat support.
Saori Kunihiro visualizes institutional issues such as gender and social attributes in modern society, as well as the human condition in the invisible oppression that SNS inflict on people, through her works using Kana Scripts established in the Heian period.
Ouma exposes the fuzzy notion of “author” in this modern society through her works based on traces of self-made manga drawn and randomly stitched together by generative AI and expresses words that she uploaded to her blog in the past but has no recollection of at the present day as calligraphy in the figure of speech balloons and deformed onomatopoeia.
We hope you will take this valuable opportunity to see the exhibition.
PROFILE
Gakushu Tanaka
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1990. As a left-handed child, he was sent to a “kakikata” class, which was a kind of writing lesson as a toddler, and this triggered him to start learning Japanese calligraphy. He continued to learn Japanese calligraphy, but one day he encountered avant-garde calligraphy and he was amazed by its expression of freedom, which led him to develop his original works today. In recent years, under the theme of “things composed from calligraphy,” he has been broadening his idea of mind and pursuing calligraphy’s potential as a contemporary form of expression.
Graduated from Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Department of Architecture in2012.
［Artist Biography］
──Solo Exhibition──
2023 “Planning” (HAKATA HANKYU ART SHIP / Fukuoka)
2020 “Syo No Hamon” (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum / Fukuoka)
2019 “Konton To Ittai” ( TOKOPOLA ANNEX / Fukuoka)
2018 “Bokuhatsu” (OFF / Fukuoka ) “Kuro Wo Mitsumeru” (IAF SHOP* / Fukuoka)
──Group Exhibition,etc.──
2024 “GENGO -Hentaisurumojihyougen” (Shibuya Hikarie8 / Tokyo)
“JAPAN SHODO SHOW 2024” (Mitaka City Arts Center / Tokyo)
2023 “ART SHODO THIRTY-ONE” (GIFU CITY CULTURE CENTER / Gifu)
“Shodo Next Stage” ( ISETAN Urawa Store / Saitama)
“JAPAN SHODO SHOW 2023” (Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo /Tokyo)
“SHODO NEW AGE” (MEDIA SHOP GALLERY&BOOKS / Kyoto)
“ART SHODO SELECTION in Tokyo #2 “ (Mitaka City Arts Center / Tokyo)
“ART SHODO EDGE” (GALLERY SCENA. / TOKYO)
2022 “ART SHODO POWERS” (MDP GALLERY NAKAMEGURO / Tokyo)
“ART SHODO SELECTION in Kyoto” (MEDIA SHOP GALLERY&BOOKS / Kyoto)
“JAPAN SHODO SHOW 2022” (Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo /Tokyo)
2021 “ART SHODO FESTA in Fukuoka” (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum / Fukuoka)
“Shoka Niyoru Chusho Hyogen Ten V” ( GALERIE SIMON / Tokyo)
Cover Art “COLECTA THE ART MAGAZINE “
“Red Dot Miami 2021” (Red Dot Miami / Florida, US)
“Bi No Kigen Ten 2021” ( Ginza Garou ON THE ORIGIN OF ART / Tokyo)
2020 “Woman an infinite wor/ld” (SK Art Gallery NY / New York)
“Shoka Niyoru Chusho Hyogen Ten Ⅳ” ( GALERIE SIMON / Tokyo)
2019 “AFAF AWARDS 2019” (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum / Fukuoka)
2018 “STRANGER-Beyond the border-“ (BBFL gallery /New York, US)
2017 “Diversity, Coexistence, Freedom” (Gallery Conceal Shibuya / Tokyo)
2016 “AFAF AWARDS 2016” (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum / Fukuoka)
2015 “Rasen” ( IAF SHOP* / Fukuoka)
Saori Kunihiro
Born in Hiroshima in 1985, she lives in Kyoto. She started calligraphy when she was 6 years old. In 2011, She moved to Tokyo for calligraphy-based activities. She launched a jewelry brand using “Hiragana” as a motif in 2015. In 2019, she moved to Kyoto to become an artist-in-residence. Since then, she has been working as a contemporary artist.
［Artist Biography］
──Solo Exhibition──
2023 “petal lines” (Komyoin Zen Temple / Kyoto)
2022 “frame of self” (THE TERMINAL KYOTO / Kyoto)
2021 “Frame of self” ( Gioji Temple Gallery / Kyoto)
“Supple lines” (Matsuzakaya Department Store Nagoya / Aichi)
“Floating lines” (ARTBAY HOUSE TOKYO / Tokyo)
2020 “The ultimate in line” (haku gallery / Kyoto)
──Group Exhibition,etc.──
2023 “ART SHODO TRIAL” (Mitaka City Arts Center / Tokyo)
“JAPAN SHODO SHOW 2023” (Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo /Tokyo)
“ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2023” (Shosei-en Garden / Kyoto)
“SHODO NEW WAVE” (GARDE Gallery / Tokyo)
“SHODO NEW AGE” (MEDIA SHOP GALLERY&BOOKS / Kyoto)
“ART SHODO SELECTION in Tokyo #2 “ (Mitaka City Arts Center / Tokyo)
2022 “In the Flow” (KUNJYUKAN SHOYEIDO INCENSE CO. / Kyoto)
“Hyoubi Ten” ( Kyoto Keizai Center / Kyoto)
“ART SHODO SELECTION in Tokyo” (Mitaka City Arts Center / Tokyo)
“SHODO NEW AGE -Western conference-” (MEDIA SHOP GALLERY&BOOKS / Kyoto)
“SHODO NEW AGE -Eastern conference-“ (ICHIKAWA CITY CULTURAL HALL / Chiba)
SPIRAL INDEPENDENT CREATORS FESTIVAL “SICF23” (Tokyo)
“JAPAN SHODO SHOW 2022” (Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo /Tokyo)
“TOKYO SHODO WEEK” ( Mitaka City Arts Center / Tokyo)
2021 “ART SHODO FESTA in Fukuoka” (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum / Fukuoka)
Group Exhibition Untitled ( GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS / Tokyo)
“ART@DAIMARU” ( DAIMARU DEPARTMENT STORE / Kyoto)
Dedication of artworks to Kamigamo Shrine, which is a World Heritage Site, Formal name : Kamo Wakeikazuchi Jinja Shrine.
“ART FAIR TOKYO 2021” (Tokyo International Forum Hall Gallery / Tokyo)
“Paris and Kyoto Joint Project “Savoir-faire des Takumi” (Kyoto)
2020 “ART SHODO FESTA 2020” (Mitaka City Arts Center / Tokyo)
Ouma
Born in Tokyo, a contemporary artist and a former veterinarian. At one moment Ouma started drawing pictures of deceased animals and sending them to their families and the number of drawings reached over 100. In 2013, She held a solo exhibition at a Gallery UNAC Tokyo, which was organized by Masanori Unagami, the art of the gallery and an art critic, and covered the galley with her paintings. She began to work as an artist. She has been pursuing a new definition of life through the indistinct works of creators who collaborate with viewers in experience and creation.
［Artist Biography］
──Solo Exhibition──
2019 “Hospital” ( Hongti Art Center / Busan, South Korea)
Reseach for the border between Living or Non-living thing (Artist residency TEMI / Daejeonk, South Korea)
“INFINITE REPETITION”( IINNOO gallery /Shang-hai, China),
2018 “Life Continuous” (NICOLAS G. HAYEK CENTER | THE SWATCH GROUP / Tokyo)
“Under the road / Life Continuous” (MOHA ART STUDIO / Ulsan, South Korea)
2017 “The World Ⅳ” / Alexander castle from SERLACHIUS MUSEUM / Mänttä, Finland)
2016 “Inferior paradise” (UNAC TOKYO / Tokyo)
“Her letter only says YES” (ART-League gallery / St Petersburg, Russia)
“Cellular” (WTA – Werner Thöni Artspace / Barcelona,Spain)
2015 “The will for changing the world” ( Gallery Natsumikan Daikanyama / Tokyo)
“After Big Five” (UNAC TOKYO / Tokyo)
2014 “OM” (Ouchi gallery / New York, US)
“Mi”( Gallery coen / Kanagawa)
2013 “The art of SELF=HEALING AND SELF=CERTIFICATION” (UNAC salon / Tokyo)
──Selected Artist in Residence Program──
2019 Hongti Art Center Residency, (Busan, Korea / September 1 – November 30）
Artist Residency TEMI, (Daejeon, Korea / May 20 – August 16)
2018 ACCR – ODYSSEE ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCY PROGRAM 2018, (France / June 14 – July 13)
Danish Art Workshops, ( Copenhagen,Denmark / May 23 – June 13)
2017 Swatch Art Peace Hotel, (Shanghai, China / November 20, 2017 – May 20, 2018)
SERLACHIUS MUSEUMS (Mänttä,Finland / September 1 – October 31)
Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, Artist in Residence -program, (Turku,Finland / March 15 – May 15)
2016 NCCA Art Residence Kronstadt, (St Petersburg,Russia / April 4 – 26)
──Award──
2024 ART SHODO AWAJISHIMA, Encouragement award (Japan)