Dimensions III-in/sight
Ginza New Gallery
2024.11.29 - 12.27
Whitestone Ginza New Gallery is pleased to announce the group exhibition “Dimensions III-in/sight,” featuring a selection of young, gifted artists.
The “Dimensions” series, now in its third annual edition, is a project aimed at discovering new talent, providing them with an opportunity to present their work, and establishing a “fixed point” for a comprehensive view of future contemporary art. As the title suggests, the characteristics, forms of representation, and implications of their creations are wide-ranging, reflecting the current phase of the times from various angles.
The participating artists in 2024 are Aire Akiyama, Nozomi Kobayashi, Motoki Tanaka, Yu Hashimoto, Mishiho Fukuhama, Mutsumi Hagiwara (listed alphabetically). Questioning ordinary values, carrying multi-faceted perspectives, and seeking something beyond what we can see—while they are well aware of the limitations of the human body, they remain insatiable toward humanity itself. In modern society, digitalization and depersonalization have spread as far as they can reach. However, the individual, the smallest unit that constitutes society, is by no means a replaceable entity. An individual as “a non-replaceable module” may have a hidden and passionate core within, and their way of expression may adopt a quirky and cool appearance in proportion to their discretion when viewed collectively.
What is unweaving and what is not, newness and oldness, or the absurdity of setting boundaries: the crust of the human mind is opened up by the act of “viewing.” Please come and see the diverse abyss of modern times intuited by the six young talents in the closing of 2024.
ABOUT
Born in Kanagawa in 1999, Aire AKIYAMA graduated from Tama Art University majoring in Oil Painting in 2023. Her paintings are characterized by a style, in which the edgy lines traverse the background of massive drawing, evoking a feel of Old Masters before 18th century. The temperature difference and discomfort embodied by two opposing layers simultaneously reveal the unfathomable depths of human consciousness, where the separation of outer layer and deeper layer coexists. In the coexistence of such contradictory states, the landscape we see changes completely according to the perspective we take. However, Akiyama’s works state implicitly the danger of having a warped view and the unfruitfulness of classifying things into patterns.
ABOUT
Born in Ibaraki, Nozomi Kobayashi graduated from Gunma University, Faculty of Education with a major in Arts. Her mosaic technique, which is also known as “carving mosaic artist”, is not based on conventional decorative techniques. Rather, she is inspired by digitally derived block noises and low-resolution photographs or images. Holding the theme of “approximation and inextricability between self and other”, she established her unique method of carving a mosaic drawn on a wooden panel with a chisel in 2016. The act of carving a mosaic not only means the physical deconstruction of materials, but also strips away our unconscious preconceptions and liberate us to the ground zero of anonymity. In her work, each fragment of mosaic embodies the individual, while its collective represents society. The intensity of the carving is proportional to the depth of individual she seeks to express, and this influences the overall character of the picture. Her works continue to exemplify various autonomous junction points in the relationship of diverse individuals and their surroundings. Kobayashi received the Lower Akihabara Prize at the “KENZAN 2016” exhibition in 2016 and subsequently the “Shunsuke Sato Jury Excellence Award” at the 2nd Art Contest of Hoshino Coffee in 2017. She has held 7 solo exhibitions so far.
ABOUT
Born in 1990, Motoki Tanaka is a contemporary sculptor. He focuses on the “face,” an important factor in identifying individuals. By deliberately deleting parts of the face, he symbolizes anonymity in modern society, and represents the appearance, atmosphere, and impression that humans project, raising the motif of being “somebody but nobody.” In his faceless sculptures, diverse garments characterize the individual, skillfully filling in the essence of the featureless personage from the outside. The tabula rasa-like beings embodied by Tanaka maintain a flexible adaptability within their quietness and become a treasure trove of countless stories. The artist has received various awards, including the 3D category award at the “Ningenten Exhibition 2014,” an honorable mention and the Taku Someya Award at “Independent Tokyo 2020,” and the Gallery Art Morimoto Award at “KENZAN 2022.” So far, he has had three solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows.
ABOUT
Born in Nagasaki in 2003, Yu Hashimoto has been influenced by music, literature, and psychedelic culture. Upholding the theme of “human perception and its structure”, Hashimoto not only creates two-dimensional works using oil paint, but also considers performance as a form of his expression. In his pictorial creations, he consistently explores perception from the five senses and another aspect of the visible world, using human beings as his motives. What is usually shown to us and what is not? How is the structure of the whole world, in which subjectivity and objectivity are intricately intertwined, lurking behind reality? Each of his works is an answer to his quest, embodying innumerable “truths”. While attending Nihon University College of Art, Department of Fine Art and Design, Major in Oil Painting, the artist actively participates in solo and group shows.
ABOUT
Born in Tokyo in 1992, Mishiho Fukuhama graduated from Musashino Art University, Faculty of Art and Design, the Department of Oil Painting in 2017. Her artistic world incorporates miniature motifs into the elaborate, realistic depictions, stirring the viewer’s usual sense of scale and feeling of closely belonging to space. Although her brushstrokes appear vivid and stable at first glance, they quietly oppose movement and restlessness, containing a vast universe that cannot be anticipated from the microscopic viewpoint. Fukuhama received numerous awards including “The 42nd Ueno Royal Museum Grand Prize Exhibition” (2024), “Idemitsu Art Award 2023” (2023), 1st Prize at the 11th Exhibition “Debut2023” (hosted by monthly art magazine “Gekkan Bijyutsu”) as well as the 7th Art Contest of Hoshino Coffee, and “FACE 2023” (hosted by SOMPO Museum of Art), to name a few. She has held six solo exhibitions so far. Currently she lives and works in Yamagata Prefecture.
ABOUT
After graduating from Joshibi College of Art and Design, majoring in Crafts, and receiving the "Shigeyuki Kato Memorial Prize," Mutsumi Hagiwara completed her master’s course at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2022. In the same year, Hagiwara received the “Arakawa Mayor’s Award” at the 70th Tokyo University of the Arts Graduation Works Exhibitions. Her experiences of connecting with nature and sensing the transitioning seasons since childhood have been extracted through the filter of memory and are brimmed with nuanced narrativity. In her glasswork productions, photographs and words are also inevitable components that complement the viewer's imagination, encouraging immersion in the universe of the work, much like polyphonic music. The gradation of colors, while maintaining inner clarity, embodies both the exquisite organic presence and the soft kinesis beyond the solidity of the glass material. The artist is currently enrolled in the doctoral course at Tokyo University of the Arts.
2024.11.29 - 12.27
긴자 뉴 갤러리
전화: +81 (0)3 3574 6161
팩스: +81 (0)3 3574 9430
영업시간: 11:00 - 19:00
휴무: 일요일, 월요일
Opening Reception
2024.11.30 (Sat) 16:00 - 19:00
Performance by Yu Hashimoto & Tomohiro Une
*Artist will be present (Aire Akiyama / Nozomi Kobayashi / Motoki Tanaka / Yu Hashimoto / Mishiho Fukuhama)
Glitch Coffee × Whitestone
During the same period as the group exhibition Dimensions III at White Stone Ginza New Gallery, works by artists Yu Hashimoto and Nozomi Kobayashi will be on display at Glitch Coffee in Higashi-Ginza. This marks the second collaboration with Glitch Coffee, following Azuki Furuya’s exhibition in June 2024.
Yu Hashimoto will present portraits of two iconic figures: Syd Barrett, the influential early member of Pink Floyd, and “the king of Jazz”, Miles Davis, the legendary jazz musician. Meanwhile, Nozomi Kobayashi will showcase a series of drawings inspired by the theme of “cafés.”
GLITCH COFFEE & ROASTERS
founded in 2015 in the cultural hub of Jimbocho, Tokyo, is dedicated to providing single-origin coffee, emphasizing the unique characteristics of each coffee bean's origin. As of May 2024, it has expanded to locations in Jimbocho, Ginza, Osaka, and Nagoya.
Glitch Coffee Ginza
4-14-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Opening Hours: 9:00-18:00