Whitestone Gallery Ginza is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Ahhi Choi, titled Reconstructing the Everyday
We live each day immersed in an overwhelming flow of visual information. Fashion, advertisements, and the shifting colors of the sky shape the palette of the city—stimulating our senses, yet often passing by without leaving a trace in our memory
What continues to captivate Ahhi Choi is this “overlooked time.”
Guided by the unconscious movements of the mind, the artist gathers fragments of color and form, transforming them into a unique visual language. This is not a mere act of reproduction, but a process of reweaving and reconstructing the everyday.
Ahhi Choi: Reconstructing the Everyday
Ginza New Gallery
2026.05.08 - 05.30
The works in this exhibition unfold across three stages: discovery (inspiration), memory (sketch), and redefinition (re: character). Through this process, fleeting moments of daily life are transformed into a distinctive motif—an “Ahhi Pattern”—through which personal experiences are elevated into universal imagery.
365 Inspiration — Collecting Unconscious Colors
Urban signage, the color combinations of clothing, and seasonal landscapes—the colors we respond to unconsciously accumulate as fragments of sensation.
This series reinterprets these elements as compositions of color. Everyday scenes are abstracted and distilled into refined planes of color.
What is presented is not a reproduction of landscape, but a crystallization of perception. Quietly placed within space, these fields of color evoke individual memories in each viewer.
2024
Acrylic on canvas
60.5 × 50.0 cm
2025
Acrylic on canvas
60.5 × 50.0 cm
2024
Acrylic on canvas
61.0 × 50.0 cm
2025
Acrylic on canvas
60.5 × 50.0 cm
2024
Acrylic on canvas
50.0 × 72.5 cm
2024
Acrylic on canvas
61.0 × 50.0 cm
2024
Acrylic on canvas
53.5 × 45.5 cm
2024
Acrylic on canvas
53.5 × 46.0 cm
2026
Acrylic on canvas
41.5 × 32.0 cm
2026
Acrylic on canvas
41.3 × 32.0 cm
2026
Acrylic on canvas
38.0 × 45.5 cm
2025
Acrylic on canvas
60.6 × 50.0 cm
2026
Acrylic on canvas
45.5 × 38.0 cm
2026
Acrylic on canvas
45.5 × 38.0 cm
Field Sketches — Tracing Layers of Memory
Sketches created across various locations are reconfigured over time.
The atmosphere of a place, its temperature, and the lingering resonance of experience emerge on the surface as layers of color. Ahhi’s sketches are not mere records, but acts of translating experience into form.
Here, memory takes on a tangible presence as a visual object.
Re: Character — Rediscovering the Familiar
Characters such as Popeye and Betty Boop function as visual icons shared across generations and cultures.
By overlaying them with the “Ahhi Pattern,” the artist introduces new layers to these familiar forms. While their original identities remain intact, they are reconstituted from within. The result is a simultaneous sense of familiarity and freshness. Onto images known to all, the artist inscribes a singular and unmistakable authorship.
2025
Acrylic on canvas
41.0 × 31.8 cm
This work was created based on memories of a visit to Death Valley, a national park in California. Once an ancient sea, the land was uplifted over time, leaving behind salt that now covers the ground—an otherworldly landscape that hardly seems to belong to Earth. The temperature was close to 40 degrees Celsius, and the moment I stepped out of the car, an intense, piercing sunlight poured down without mercy. I rendered that blinding brightness into yellow on a white canvas, giving form to the overwhelming memory of light in Death Valley.
2025
Acrylic on canvas
45.5 × 38.0 cm
When I encounter large trees during my travels, I find myself instinctively stopping and looking up at them. Trees that have taken root in the same place for decades, or even centuries longer than I have been alive, and have stood there in quiet endurance seem to possess an indescribable power. Each trunk and branch appears to bear the marks of having survived wind and rain over time, and every time I see them, I am struck by an overwhelming sense of energy and vitality. I have infused this work with my respect and sense of awe toward such trees.
2025
Acrylic on canvas
45.5 × 38.0 cm
Every time I visit Okinawa, I feel as though my mind and body are being replenished. Okinawa, which I make a point of visiting every year, is a very special place for me. Among its landscapes, I am always deeply struck by Banyan trees. From their branches, countless aerial roots hang down, reaching desperately toward the ground in search of water. In that form, I always sense an overwhelming vitality. Flexible yet powerful, Banyan possesses a uniquely distinctive shape. In this work, I have depicted the energy it embodies from my own perspective.
2025
Acrylic on canvas
53.0 × 45.5 cm
While driving in Hawaii, I encountered a downpour like a bucket of water being overturned. A heavy squall struck as I was traveling along a mountain road, with rain violently beating against the car windows. Before I knew it, the road had turned into a river, flooded with overflowing water to the point where the car could no longer move forward. Within just 15 to 20 minutes, the sky cleared as if nothing had happened. Yet the moment remains vividly etched in my memory—the raw power of nature, utterly beyond human control.
2026
Acrylic on canvas
33.3 × 53.0 cm
No matter how many times I visit, I am always drawn to the ridgeline of Diamond Head. Sitting in the shade of a tree and slowly gazing at its form under Hawaii’s gentle sunlight is a time that brings a sense of calm and happiness. Nothing special happens, yet simply being there is enough to feel fulfilled. I imagine many people may have experienced a similar feeling. Through this work, I would be glad if I could share that quiet, happy memory with you all.
2025
Acrylic on canvas
22.0 × 55.0 cm
This work was created based on a view of Mount Asama, which I encountered during my solo exhibition in Karuizawa. The beauty of its gently undulating ridgelines was what first caught my eye. There was something nostalgic about the landscape, and it naturally brought a sense of calmness. Although grand in scale, it has a quiet presence that never feels imposing—an atmosphere unique to Mount Asama itself. I captured that moment in a sketch, when the soft curves drawn by the ridgeline and the spaciousness of the sky harmoniously resonated, creating a deeply comforting balance.
2026
Acrylic on canvas
22.0 × 55.0 cm
This is a small, little-known beach facing the Sea of Japan in Hyogo Prefecture. The crystal-clear water and the quietness, completely untouched by any sense of noise or bustle, create a deeply comforting atmosphere. It is one of my favorite places, which I visit every summer to enjoy freediving. It is not a polished or refined landscape, but rather a simple, somewhat nostalgic scenery that remains just as it is. I sincerely hope that the stillness and beauty of this place will remain unchanged forever.
2025
Acrylic on canvas
40.0 × 70.0 cm
This work was created based on a view of Cape Hedo as seen from Daisekirinzan, located at the northernmost tip of Okinawa’s main island. Below spreads a lush, green landscape, beyond which lie the shimmering blue sea, the horizon line, and a July sky, where cumulonimbus clouds drift quietly. Viewed in a gentle breeze, the scene seemed to embody the vast generosity of Okinawa’s natural environment itself. In this piece, I have depicted both the presence of nature I directly witnessed and the landscape reconstructed within my memory.
2026
Acrylic on canvas
30.0 × 90.0 cm
From Ashiya City in Hyogo Prefecture, where I was born and raised, Rokko Mountain was always a familiar presence that I saw as a matter of course. Its ridgeline is the most deeply ingrained landscape in my memory. The rounded silhouette depicted slightly to the right of the center of the work is Mount Kabutoyama. Although it is not a particularly large mountain, its distinctive, softly curved form has long been cherished by local people. Because I have seen this landscape every day since childhood, I feel that it is one of the origins of my artistic practice.
2025
Acrylic on canvas
30.0 × 90.0 cm
I lived in Los Angeles for about three years, and it remains one of my favorite places. Spending entire days slowly gazing at the ocean from my favorite hill in Malibu was an irreplaceable time for me back then. Even under strong sunlight, the dry air made everything feel refreshingly clear and light. I often think back to that landscape, where cumulonimbus clouds slowly rose far beyond the horizon, and I hope to see it again someday. This work was created with those memories from that time in mind.
This series can be seen as a bridge between pop culture and contemporary art.
This exhibition offers an opportunity to trace and reflect upon fragments of everyday memories that have slipped away, bringing a renewed sense of focus to fleeting moments of everyday life.
We invite you to experience the interplay of rhythm, time, and space created by the works.
ABOUT
Ahhi Choi: Reconstructing the Everyday
2026.05.08 - 05.30
2026.05.08 - 05.30
Ginza New Gallery
6-4-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku Tokyo, 104-0061, Japan
Tel: +81 (0)3 3574 6161
Fax: +81 (0)3 3574 9430
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 19:00
Closed: Sunday, Monday
Tel: +81 (0)3 3574 6161
Fax: +81 (0)3 3574 9430
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 19:00
Closed: Sunday, Monday