YUYA HASHIZUME
COLOR

January  11 - 28, 2023

We are delighted to announce a new solo exhibition by Yuya Hashizume. This is the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery and will feature 6 new paintings from his most evocative body of work, EYEWATER.

This presentation emphasized the artist’s engagement with color more than ever. He focused on color as a way to depict feelings and mood of each character dealing with their own situations. As the title of this exhibition “Color” says itself, the artist offers the audience a glimpse into each character’s stories and feelings with color throughout the paintings featured in the show.

In his ongoing series EYEWATER, Yuya mobilizes the absence of context as a vital strategy. He portrays a character who is central to a narrative, and a tear engages the viewer to a story untold.

“Tears do not have a particularly limited meaning. I see the canvas as a comic frame disconnected from the narrative above and below. It can be taken negatively or positively, there may be a story to follow, or this frame may be the last. In fact, I find it interesting that the viewer's perspectives and reactions are so different, and I think it is best to leave the interpretation to them.”    

Influenced by the Japanese manga especially Fujiko’s, Yuya first began exhibiting his paintings in 2017. An underlying theme throughout most of his paintings roots in boundaries between original and copy.

“People are obsessed with the “original.” Why is that? Is there a “perfect original”? The exhibition in Okayama(2017) dealt with this personal question, incorporating the works of Fujiko, whom I have admired for a long time, as a motif.”

Yuya believes that everything is based on imitation and emulation. Playing in a mimic manner, the artist consistently attempts to create his own version of original by infusing various inspirations in his practice. In this sense, Yuya describes his latest paintings in reference to “Stranger things(television series,2016-present)”, “Stand by me(movie,1986)”, and “Goonies(movie,1986). Six figures portrayed in this exhibition represent our challenges and dramas for growing up.