Tang Contemporary Art is honored to announce the opening of the Japanese Artist Group Exhibition “Intersection of Monsoons”, set to take place on October 14 at our Hong Kong Wong Chuk Hang space. The exhibition will showcase 19 latest works by six Japanese artists - Ai Makita, Kazuki Umezawa, Meguru Yamaguchi, TIDE, Yukari Nishi, and Yuna Ogino - and will mark the artists’ inaugural collaboration with us.
The genesis of this exhibition lies in the convergence of the two places, Hong Kong and Japan, which are characterized by their distinct monsoon climates. They also harbour their own unique idiosyncrasies, much like the diverse expressions of the cultural and artistic styles that have blossomed within their respective territories.
Meguru Yamaguchi's OUT OF BOUNDS series showcases an expansion of painting beyond stereotypes and boundaries, creating unconstrained brushstroke shapes to express the dynamic and sculptural potential of brushstrokes. Ai Makita's oil paintings and installations embody an elusive metallic ecology, blending grandeur and delicate beauty in a captivating manner. Kazuki Umezawa's works collage internet images and data, presenting the simulated beauty of contemporary digital culture and dimensional features. TIDE presents the night view of Victoria Harbor in black and white monotone, integrating his visual language and signature character into the mysterious atmosphere of Hong Kong at night. Yukari Nishi's works explore the fourth dimension between reality and fiction, prompting viewers to reconsider the boundaries between truth and fiction, and creating a stunning visual experience. Yuna Ogino seamlessly combines parts of the body with elements like bouquets, presenting a completely new creative style through unique compositions.
Within the confines of this exhibition, the very essence of culture and art shall interweave, fusing the boundless creative energies and unique perspectives of these artists. Each artwork will recount a narrative as distinctive as the artist behind it, captivating the beholder's gaze and evoking an emotional response. Together, in this hallowed space where monsoons converge, we shall embark on an immersive journey, one that celebrates the collision of cultures and the profound exploration of their interconnectedness.
EXHIBITING WORKS
ARTIST
MEGURU YAMAGUCHI
b. 1984, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
The artist moved to New York in 2007 and currently based in Brooklyn. The artist focuses and pursues possibilities of brushstrokes’ expressions, one of the most fundamental elements of painting. Yamaguchi’s signature work series OUT OF BOUNDS is made with conception of “transcending stereotypes, rules, borders and boundaries, expansion of painting”. Yamaguchi stopped using canvases that restrained the physical area for his brush strokes but instead invented an original method for materialising unrestrained shapes of the brush strokes, successfully expressing and exploring the possibilities of his dynamic and sculptural beauty of brush strokes. The artist experienced the pivotal transition of street culture from the 90’s to early 2000’s in Tokyo. He has collaborated with major brands representing American street culture, such as ALIFE, BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB, FTC, NIKE. The artist has also collaborated with other international brands such as ISSEY MIYAKE MEN, LEVI’s, OAKLEY, and UNIQLO. Artworks are owned by FENDI Foundation and more. Recent publication includes OUT OF BOUNDS.
YUNA OGINO
b. 1982, Tokyo, Japan
Yuna Ogino graduated from the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2007. Since then, she has actively participated in numerous group exhibitions both domestically and internationally, as well as holding solo exhibitions, constantly engaging in the creation and presentation of her artwork. In recent years, she has expanded her artistic activities beyond her own artwork production, taking on live painting performances and providing illustrations for a newspaper series.
Since her debut, she has continued to focus on the motif of "flowers" as symbols of self and femininity in her artwork. However, in recent years, she has also ventured into portraiture, expressing body parts and bouquets through an overall composition and a unique harmony of colors.
KAZUKI UMEZAWA
b. 1985, Saitama, Japan
Artist. Born in 1985. Graduated from Musashino Art University Department of Imaging Arts and Sciences in 2008. He creates a bricolage of web scattered images and data, reworking by hand upon color prints where characters, photos, texts and icons, all combine to form complex, decorative and chaotic vivid scenes which reflect the digital and analogue of the contemporary world. He belongs to CASHI and Chaos*lounge. A main exhibition, "Empty god CORE" (2014, B2OA gallery), "All You Need Is LOVE: From Chagall to Kusama and Hatsune Miku" (2013, Mori Art Museum), "The Ground And Water And Ownerless Property Core" (2012, CASHI), "Chaos*Lounge 2010: Takahashi Collection Hibiya" (2010, CASHI) etc.
YUKARI NISHI
b. 1978, Kagawa, Japan
The surrealistic realism that dominates Yukari Nishi’s acrylic works references an idealized mid-century
American nostalgia, and her strange and fantastical worldview has been a popular muse within the Japanese music scene, leading to collaborations with various musicians on CD jacket designs, posters, tour merchandise,music videos, and film works.
Faceless figures, emotionless plushies, and lifeless animals populate the idyllic landscapes of Nishi’s world. The detached, dream-like environments stir feelings of curiosity and discomfort; the dramatic elements of light and shadow, as well as the unexpected loss of coherency and meaning within familiar domestic spaces of safety and comfort, recall neo-noir themes of absurdity, nihilism, and paranoia. Nishi’s works abandon assumption and convention to enter a fourth dimension somewhere between reality and fiction, causing us to reconsider our own perceptions of what is real and what is not.
Yukari Nishi graduated from the Kyoto University of Art and Design and has been exhibiting her paintings and mixed media works at galleries and art fairs in numerous exhibitions from around the world since 2004, including: “IMAGRATION”, Each Modern, (Taiwan, 2023); “Index #5”, The Mass, (Japan, 2022); “Viewing”, SAI, (Japan, 2021).
AI MAKITA
b. 1985, Chiba, Japan
Ai Makita is a Tokyo and New York based visual artist. She works mainly on oil painting, printing, and their installation.
She got an M.F.A. of Tokyo National University of the Arts in 2013, her painting was selected for a permanent collection at the Museum of Tokyo National University of the Arts. Recently, she participated in a residency program in New York, and during that period, was selected as an exhibitor at the Consulate General of Japan
in New York.
Makita has received numerous awards, fellowships, and residency programs, including the Terrada Art Award (Tokyo), Taro Okamoto Award (Tokyo), POLA Art Foundation Fellowship (Tokyo), Finalist of Rijksakademie (Amsterdam), ART CAKE (New York), Residency Unlimited (New York) and the Varda Artist in Residency (Sausalito).
TIDE
b. 1984, Japan
Born in 1984. The self-taught artist first began painting while traveling abroad in Australia in his early 20s,
returning to Tokyo and starting a career as an artist in 2009. TIDE was heavily inspired by the work of manga artist and historian Shigeru Mizuki, and began creating small scale and intricate pencil drawings in a pointillist style. He then began to explore various painting techniques, including watercolour and acrylic, and realised that these allowed for greater creative expression in both speed and scale. Continuous experimentation has led to his current multi-layered painting style that makes full use of these accumulated techniques, and his works draw upon universal themes of childhood and nostalgia to create a unique.