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Manabu Ikeda "Focus"
Mizuma Art Gallery - Ichigaya
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Artists
Manabu Ikeda
Ikeda had his first museum solo show at The Obuse Museum & The Nakajima Chinami Gallery (Nagano) last year. He has also participated in various exhibitions, both domestic and international. After his solo show, Ikeda will spend one year creating in Canada with the support of the international training program of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, further raising expectations.
This time, viewers used to the artist’s grandiose drawings (History of Rise and Fall, 2006, Fortoken, 2008) will discover smaller artworks, 22 by 27 cm in format.
Ikeda says that “[until now,] it was interesting to add small portions one after the other, gradually expanding outwards, but [he] then though the universe resulting of the reverse motion, one you won’t find in big works, must also have its interest of its own,” leading him to a new challenging creation. This time, rather than inviting viewers to “peer in the details of one large drawing”, Ikeda created his new works by “focusing on small sections to draw the viewers’ imagination to unfolding universes”. This idea is at the origin of the exhibition title: “Focus”.
Gate, one of the new pieces, depicts a square opening suddenly breaking the ocean’s surface, and inside which cars run highways among the glittering building lights of a city’s nightscape. By looking at the lighthouse and fishermen we imagine this frame is a bank and as the work’s title suggests, a curious “gate” between those two contradictory worlds of the ocean and the metropolis. Where does that ocean lead? What kind of universe unfolds beyond that city? No answers are to be found on the surface of the picture, yet our imagination seems ready to take flight in front of those unknown landscapes.
This time, viewers used to the artist’s grandiose drawings (History of Rise and Fall, 2006, Fortoken, 2008) will discover smaller artworks, 22 by 27 cm in format.
Ikeda says that “[until now,] it was interesting to add small portions one after the other, gradually expanding outwards, but [he] then though the universe resulting of the reverse motion, one you won’t find in big works, must also have its interest of its own,” leading him to a new challenging creation. This time, rather than inviting viewers to “peer in the details of one large drawing”, Ikeda created his new works by “focusing on small sections to draw the viewers’ imagination to unfolding universes”. This idea is at the origin of the exhibition title: “Focus”.
Gate, one of the new pieces, depicts a square opening suddenly breaking the ocean’s surface, and inside which cars run highways among the glittering building lights of a city’s nightscape. By looking at the lighthouse and fishermen we imagine this frame is a bank and as the work’s title suggests, a curious “gate” between those two contradictory worlds of the ocean and the metropolis. Where does that ocean lead? What kind of universe unfolds beyond that city? No answers are to be found on the surface of the picture, yet our imagination seems ready to take flight in front of those unknown landscapes.
Schedule | Dec 8 (Wed) 2010-Jan 15 (Sat) 2011 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | http://www.mizuma-art.co.jp/exhibition/e_1291002791.php | ||||
| Venue | Mizuma Art Gallery - Ichigaya https://mizuma-art.co.jp/en/ | ||||
| Location | 2F Kagura Bldg., 3-13 Ichigayatamachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0843 | ||||
| Access | 5 minute walk from exit 5 at Ichigaya Station on the Yurakucho and Namboku lines, 8 minute walk from the West exit of Iidabashi Station on the JR Chuo-Sobu line, 8 minute walk from exit B3 at Iidabashi Station on the Tozai, Yurakucho and Namboku lines. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3268-2500 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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