Yutaka Kikutake Gallery is pleased to present “Luminous / Lunar,” a solo exhibition of works by Kisho Mwkaiyama from September 10^th to October 15^th, 2016. The exhibition marks Mwkaiyama’s first solo presentation at Yutaka Kikutake Gallery, and features seven works that appropriate the material of wax which he has continued to worked with throughout his practice, in addition to eight works illustrating the artist’s first attempt of working with canvas.

Mwkaiyama was born in 1968 in Osaka, and currently lives and works in Tokyo. Mwkaiyama spent his childhood in Mount Koya, recognized as one of Japan’s most prominent locations of esoteric Buddhist temples, and as a child had found himself enticed by the tranquil environment of his surroundings and the Buddhist art that existed within it. This childhood experience had essentially lead Mwkaiyama to concern himself with the fundamental presence of light, a motif that he has consistently worked with since the beginning of his artistic career. His representative works using wax are a continuous attempt to both give appearance to and immobilize light. Mwkaiyama’s works have received high acclaim for the manner in which the various colors affixed through wax serve to visualize the invisible realm as well as the way they question the very concept of beauty. In his latest works “Lunar” featured in this exhibition and within which countlessly overlapping layers of watercolor change in demeanor according to the reflections of light, the very presence of the light seemingly transforms its appearance upon the canvas as if it were a living and breathing being. The wax works “Luminous (Light)” that give visual appearance to the realm of the invisible, and the canvas works “Lunar (Moon)” that serves as a challenging attempt to further investigate this notion of invisibility, are brought together to create a cohesive space in which viewers can sense and experience the rich chromatic hues that are born forth from within the light.

■Group Exhibition “THE UNIVERSE AND ART”

Venue: Mori Art Museum  Period: Jul 30, 2016 – Jan 9^th, 2017

Talk Session: “Cosmology in Art”, 19:00-21:00, Tuesday, Oct 4,2016

*for any queries regarding the exhibition, please contact themuseum directly.

For further information please contact:

Yutaka Kikutake Gallery, 6-6-9 2F Roppongi Minato-ku Tokyo 106-0032 Japan

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