TAB Event - Chiezo Taro "Illusion of Two Tower Buildings and Landscape"

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At Dai-ichi Life Gallery
Media: Painting

This exhibition features the work of Chiezo Taro, an artist who won the special encouragement award at the VOCA exhibition '98.

Taro began holding exhibitions both in Japan and abroad since the 90s, and is part of the center of a wave of Japanese contemporary painters who, like Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, have attracted much critical attention in Europe and the US, contributing to the current boom in contemporary art and influencing many younger artists. This exhibition is Taro's first solo show in Tokyo in 6 years.

The title of this show, "Illusion of Two Tower Buildings and Landscape", consists mostly of large-scale landscapes in series inspired by the traditional "sansui" Japanese landscape works by Sesshu and Hiroshige. Taro, who was dumbstruck when he witnessed first hand and up close the collision of the first airplane to hit the twin towers in New York on September 11th, 2001, has created large scale paintings that attempt to answer the question of what role art might possibly play in an age when even the economy and politics have no resounding and effective answer to climate change and unending strife.

Of particular note is "Sumida River, devoted to Motomasa; or, WTC", a large-scale painting measuring almost 4m across. This work was shown at the "War and Art II" exhibition at Zokei University in Kyoto this January, and was almost universally lauded by the press, winning enthusiastic praise in 6 newspapers and art magazines. The painting depicted the loss of the twin towers by an act of terrorism, but rendered as an illusory scene or imaginary landscape - a galvanizing work that inspired the artist to take up his brushes again to engage the world around him even after the loss of his motivation in the wake of 911. Also on display is Taro's large scale painting "The Laws of the Economy" (1996), an early work that was shown at the opening exhibition of Tomio Koyama Gallery 12 years ago.

Following this exhibition closely will be another show of Taro's work, to be held at Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo from August 2nd to September 21st, that gathers his paintings from the 90s culled from the Okada collection - entitled "Post-human Artist Chiezo Taro's Fantasy Museum from the O Collection".

-Opening Reception: June 27th (Fri) 17:00-19:00

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