Frantic Gallery |「2011 FRANTIC UNDERLINES」Atsushi Takahashi, Cousteau Tazuke, Katsuya Sugimoto, Macoto Murayama, Naoki Sasayama, Naritaka Satoh, Taisuke Mohri

「2011 FRANTIC UNDERLINES」Atsushi Takahashi, Cousteau Tazuke, Katsuya Sugimoto, Macoto Murayama, Naoki Sasayama, Naritaka Satoh, Taisuke Mohri

In the short pause between the European art events that just ended and the cascade of Asian Art Fairs soon to follow, Frantic Gallery will launch its annual show, summarizing this year's experiments by the gallery's represented artists as well as exhibiting the first fruits borne from collaborations with talents that are new to us. Being opened during Tokyo Art Week and expecting an international audience, we would like to bring seven artists under one roof and underline their achieved results and future artistic direction. "2011 FRANTIC UNDERLINES" Exhibition is also a great opportunity for us to collect in the gallery space more than 40 works, which will depart to key Asian Art events right after the show, providing a chance for Japanese curators, press, and art lovers a sneak-peek preview of what's to come. Works by Naoki Sasayama, Naritaka Satoh and Atsushi Takahashi will leave for Art Taipei to the "Uncanny and Sorrow in Monochrome and Color" Exhibition, while works of Taisuke Mohri, Macoto Murayama and Katsuya Sugimoto will be presented at the top mainland China art fair ShContemporary. After a long period of exhibition postponements and a sorrowful mood in Tokyo, Frantic Gallery will launch its group show with full force and draw 2,011 lines under the names of those with whom it would be honored to think about art together.

Frantic underlines Atsushi Takahashi, who squeezes paint on canvas creating "oil carpets" which offer colorful interplay of numerous oil-tubes at close inspection and a definite image with rich characters and complicated situations from afar. It is a part of Atsushi's talent to unite in one piece both childish sensitivity and emotional depth: there is simplicity and tenderness as well as tension and threat in his works. The colorfulness of Takahashi's art rarely excludes sadness of the depicted personages. The artist works both with acrylic and oil, but without brush. Takahashi leaves no touch, no traces of artist's hands, but manages to stress the materiality of the painting at the same time: oil paint is both a means of representation and an object. Covered with gloss that protects the intersections and layers of paint from peeling, Takahashi's images emit a certain glow, while the white spaces, nothing else than white canvas itself, interact with the voluminous net of squeezed paint with surprising strength of illusion and visual calmness. Takahasi's work is one of the examples of the painting where innovative technique comes together with emotional adventure and form and content become inseparable categories.

Feel You as Me 2011 oil on canvas 180x120 AT_11002 available	Feel You as Me (detail) 2011 oil on canvas 180x120 AT_11002 available
Feel You as Me (detail) 2011 oil on canvas 180x120 AT_11002 available	Feel You as Me (detail) 2011 oil on canvas 180x120 AT_11002 available

Heart's Place 2010 oil on canvas, coating 162x91 AT_10001 available	Heart's Place (detail) 2010 oil on canvas, coating 162x91 AT_10001 available
Heart's Place (detail) 2010 oil on canvas, coating 162x91 AT_10001 available	Heart's Place (detail) 2010 oil on canvas, coating 162x91 AT_10001 Private Collection, Germany

Frantic underlines Cousteau Tazuke whose unconventional painting technique reveals sophisticated and intense imaginary. The artist carves clear acrylic panels, pours acid-colored paint in the resulting cavities and then exhibits these works backwards. By doing this, Tazuke subverts the opposition of the front and the rear -- the positive and negative -- of the picture: the onlooker faces the back of the painting seeing colorful substances through transparent acrylic resin. In some of the works the artist attaches a mirror pellicle to the painted side or makes openings in the picture plane, thus combining both sides of the painting and bringing them into the visual experience of the onlooker. Recently Tazuke started a series of painting with The Grid pattern. The Grid in the latest works makes the above mentioned structure even more complicated adding new links and overlapping into 5mm thin plexiglas. In this way the artist proposes a radically different approach to the traditional fine art through his experiments regarding the structure and topology of two-dimensional art.

Frantic underlines Katsuya Sugimoto who combines his fantasy world filled with pocket-size toys and tender humor with an unchild-like technique: the synthesis that gives his latest pieces an uncanny feel. Sugimoto collected hundreds of colorful plastic toy-figures and miniature car-models, which he brings into 2dimentional art of painting while preserving and stressing their "sweet tactility", "pretty volume" and "lovable expressiveness". Sugimoto works in hyperrealistic technique but develops its main features. First, as classical photorealist he concentrates on the reflections and play of light, but in his case it is a "hyperreal glow" on fruits or sweets, which stretches visual effect to anatomical dimension, provoking feeling of lusciousness both in visual and physiological senses. Second, he puts all his strength on 3-dimentional representations, but in the same time develops interplay of 2-dimentional planes. Hinting on traditional Japanese paintings, clouds or blots in Sugimoto's works contra-play with illusion of depth and shades. This approach allows Sugimoto to synthesize on one canvas flatness and dynamism, realistic objectiveness and air of imagination.

Dreamer 2011 oil on canvas/panel 130.3x162 KS_11002 Private Collection, Japan	Dreamer (detail) 2011 oil on canvas/panel 130.3x162 KS_11002 Private Collection, Japan
Dreamer (detail) 2011 oil on canvas/panel 130.3x162 KS_11002 Private Collection, Japan	Dreamer (detail) 2011 oil on canvas/panel 130.3x162 KS_11002 Private Collection, Japan

Balal 2011 oil on canvas/panel 259x194 KS_11001 Private Collection, Japan	Balal (detail) 2011 oil on canvas/panel 259x194 KS_11001 Private Collection, Japan
Balal (detail) 2011 oil on canvas/panel 259x194 KS_11001 Private Collection, Japan	Balal (detail) 2011 oil on canvas/panel 259x194 KS_11001 Private Collection, Japan

Frantic underlines Macoto Murayama who creates computer generated botanical drawings, bringing an ancient tradition of flower illustration into the digital age. Pre-modern visuality meets here with cutting-edge technology; natural forms intertwine with scientific sharpness and descriptive precision. In a new series of works dedicated to the flower called Commelina Communis (commonly known as Asiatic Dayflower) Murayama gives three possible views of one plant in large scale: top, side and front views both with black and white background. He develops his approach by adding multiple details (of a bud, stamen, petal) to the general "technical drawing" of the flower. Furthermore, Murayama uses color for the separate parts, which makes flower's transparent architecture even more intricate and captivating.

Commelina communis L. - top - b 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 150x100 MM_11004	Commelina communis L. - top - b (detail) 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 150x100 MM_11004
Commelina communis L. - top - b (detail) 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 150x100 MM_11004	Commelina communis L. - top - b (detail) 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 150x100 MM_11004

Commelina communis L. - side view - ow 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 100x150 MM_11001	Commelina communis L. - side view - ow (detail) 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 100x150 MM_11001
Commelina communis L. - side view - ow (detail) 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 100x150 MM_11001	Commelina communis L. - side view - ow (detail) 2011 Media Art/CGA digital c-print 100x150 MM_11001

Frantic underlines Naoki Sasayama who reflects on the recent March 11 earthquake in Japan and the nuclear disaster that followed. Created in black watercolor, his series titled "Black Rain" (symbolic image of radiation related disasters) reminds one of the animals that were abandoned in the 30km seclusion area and how they eventually died of hunger. The painting "Once Again" disagrees with the common delusion that the Japanese nation has never experienced a nuclear problem, bringing in symbols of Nagasaki (that suffered from nuclear explosion in World War II) and Godzilla (a poplar national monster that was born due to radiation exposure). The painting insists on the masochistic nature of atomic trauma that permanently reminds about itself,, repeating itself again and again.

Once Again 2011 watercolor on montvale paper/panel 162x130.3 NSS_11002 available	Black Rain No.1 2011 watercolor on montvale paper 53x33.3 NSS_11003 available
Black Rain No.2 2011 watercolor on montvale paper 22.7x22 NSS_11004 available	Black Rain No.3 2011 watercolor on montvale paper 22.7x15.8 NSS_11005 available

Cleaner
2011
watercolor on montvale paper/panel
130x162
NSS_11001
available

The Cleaner 01
2011
watercolor on montvale paper/panel
53x33
NSS_11006
available

Frantic underlines Naritaka Sato who brushes up his hyperreal technique, uniting drawing (strict lines) and painterly effects (spots and brushstrokes) and sharpening the feeling of uncanny in his last "Pleasure on a Palm". Satoh continues to work on the topic of children and their environment but brings in new elements. Firstly, he creates a stage: his recent work uses curtains to enclose the subjects in a smaller space, adding the feeling of anxiety and foreboding to his works. "Pleasure on a Palm" also offers an effect of elevation: five rabbit balloons are fastened to a child's hands. The balloons seem at once to control the child like a marionette on a string as well as be controlled by him. Dichotomous analogies like puppet and human, master and slave, natural and artificial tightly intertwine, drawing the onlooker in the more one looks into it.

Pleasure in a palm 2011 acrilic paint/charcoal/pencil on paper with acrilic gloss 162x97 NS_11002 available	Pleasure in a palm (detail) 2011 acrilic paint/charcoal/pencil on paper with acrilic gloss 162x97 NS_11002 available
Pleasure in a palm (detail) 2011 acrilic paint/charcoal/pencil on paper with acrilic gloss 162x97 NS_11002 available	Pleasure in a palm (detail) 2011 acrilic paint/charcoal/pencil on paper with acrilic gloss 162x97 NS_11002 available

Frantic underlines Taisuke Mohri, who's pencil opens and stretches a drawn body, starting a new tradition of "lay-outs" for his "Skin-Portraits". It is not the inner world of a person that interests Mohri; being an "anatomical formalist", he is interested in what covers the inner world, the upper layer of a person, namely: the skin. Mohri, using his hyperreal technique, create pencil drawings with a focus on wrinkles, spots and veins that ultimately converge into a character. In recent works Mohri pushes his "anti-humanistic" artistic stance even further. He omits eyes (the mirror of soul) and even mouths and noses (physical entrances to the Inside). Without showing the inner world in both physical and spiritual senses he "opens" the person, widening the surface of a body, presenting the Ego of a personage as its upper pellicle, insisting on "Image as Skin".

Untitled 2011 pencil on paper 73x73 TM_11002 Private Collection, China	Untitled (detail) 2011 pencil on paper 73x73 TM_11002 Private Collection, China
Untitled (detail) 2011 pencil on paper 73x73 TM_11002 Private Collection, China	Untitled (detail) 2011 pencil on paper 73x73 TM_11002 Private Collection, China

1979: Born in Saitama, Japan
2004: Tama University of Art, Oil Painting Department, B.A.

Solo Exhibitions

2010: "Thank you for Being Here", Gallery Fukuda, Osaka
2010: "Solo Show", Gallery Trinity, Tokyo
2008: "Solo Show", Mott Gallery, Tokyo

Selected Group Exhibitions

2012: "OUT of FLAT!", Galerie Hengevoss Duerkop, Hamburg, Germany
2011: "Alternative Lines", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2011: "On Both Sides of The Figure. Japanese Contemporary Art in Double Movement to Abstract and Hyperreal", THE BARRACK Temporary Museum for Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2010: "Concentration of Existence", Harmas Gallery, Tokyo
2010: "Ushiku Biennale", Ibaraki
2010: "PREMIER SELECTION SHOW", Tobin Ohashi Gallery, Tokyo
2009: "Three Person Show", Gallery Trinity, Tokyo
2009: "Portraits", Asian Collection Contemporary Art Gallery, Tokyo
2009: "Unbleached Vol.5", Gallery Trinity
2009: "REAL OSAKA", BUNKAMURA Gallery, Tokyo
2008: "Portrait Show: Someone to Make You Smile", Asian Collection, Tokyo
2008: "Exhibition of Young Artists Small Works", Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, Yokohama
2007: "Tokyo Wonder Wall", Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2007: Kobe Art Center, Tokyo
2006: "Japan and Korea Cultural Exchange Show", Galerie KUSABUE, Nagoya
2005: Omotesando Gallery, Tokyo

1982: Born in Osaka, Japan
2007: Tama Art University, Department of Graphic Design, B.A.
2010: Tama Art University, Department of Painting, M.A.

Solo Exhibitions

2010: "Structure beyond Function", Traditional Japanese Sake Storehouse, Kamakura
2009: "Tazuke Cousteau Solo Exhibition", ANOTHER FUNCTION, Tokyo

Group Exhibitions

2012: "OUT of FLAT!", Galerie Hengevoss Duerkop, Hamburg, Germany
2011: "Alternative Lines", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2010: "2010 FRANTIC UNDERLINES", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2009: "circle", CCAA, Tokyo
"Wakuraha", Gallery .b.Tokyo, Tokyo
"Graduation Works Exhibition",The National Art Center, Tokyo
2008: "no border", Tama Art University Gallery, Tokyo
2007: "Graduation Works Exhibition", Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo

1984: Born in Tochigi, Japan
2007: Tokyo Gakugei University, Art Education Department, B.A.
2009: Tokyo Gakugei University, Art Education Department, M.A.
2010: Tokyo Art University, Fine Art Department, M.A.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2011: Graduation Works Exhibition, Tokyo Art University, Tokyo
2010: "29th Sompo Japan Foundation Selected Works" Exhibition, Tokyo

Awards

2010: Ataka Prize, Tokyo Art University, Tokyo

1984: Born in Kanagawa
2007: Miyagi University, Information Design Dept., Spatial Design course, B.A.
2009: Institute of Advanced Media Art and Sciences (IAMAS), Media Expression Dept., completed.
2009- 2010: Researcher at IAMAS

Solo Exhibitions

2011: "Inorganic flora", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo

Group Exhibition

2012: "OUT of FLAT!", Galerie Hengevoss Duerkop, Hamburg, Germany
2010: "2010 FRANTIC UNDERLINES", Frantic, Gallery, Tokyo
2009: "Exhibition of Objects Under Observation"(with Toshitaka Mochizuki), art project frantic, Tokyo
2009: "My Favorite Things, Unseal Contemporary and art project frantic Joint Exhibition", Tokyo
2009: "Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2009", Gyoko-dori Underground Gallery, Tokyo
2009: "PLAYING BACK SURFACE Ⅱ - digital images of contemporary art - ", Toyota Municipal Museum of Art Civic Gallery, Aichi, Japan
2009: "IAMAS 2009", Softopia Japan Center Builiding, Gifu, Japan
2008: "OGAKI BIENNALE 2008", Takaya-cho Underpass, Gifu, Japan

Awards

Asia Digital Art Award

1981: Born in Shiga, Japan.
2005: Graduated from Osaka University of Arts.

Solo Exhibitions

2012: "The Catastrophic Spectator", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2010: "The Scene of Accident" Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2006: "The Creation", Gallery Iteza, Kyoto
2005: "Did my time", Gallery Iteza, Kyoto
2004: "Heart full of pain", Gallery Iteza, Kyoto
2003: "Boys don't cry", GUILD Gallery, Osaka

Group Exhibitions

2011: "2011 FRANTIC UNDERLINES", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2010: "2010 FRANTIC UNDERLINES Part 1", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
Oxidized Reality, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma2010
"frantic drawings", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo.
2009: "TANAGOKORO 9" Radi-um -Roentgenwerke, Tokyo.
2008: "Moeglichkeit", Radi-um -Roentgenwerke, Tokyo.
"Negative/Art Vol.5", GEISAI Museum2, Tokyo.
2007: "Negative/Art Vol.4", Osaka Contemporary Art Centre Osaka.
"Negative/Art Vol.3", Gallery Wks, Osaka.
2006: Vanilla Gallery, Tokyo.
"Negative/Art Vol.2", Dohjidai Gallery on Art, Kyoto.
2005: "Negative/Art Vol.1", Dohjidai Gallery of Art, Kyoto.
2003: "Dot", CASO, Osaka.

Important Private and Public Collections

The Museum Of Modern Art, Gunma

1980: Born in Aichi
2006: Tokyo Art University, B.A.Design Arts
2008: Tokyo Art University, M.A.Design Arts

Awards

2007: 8th SICF, Gran Prix prize, Spiral, Tokyo

Solo Exhibition

2009: "Transplant Baby. The Synthetic Toys in Art of Naritaka Satoh" Exhibition, frantic gallery, Tokyo
2007: 8th SICF, Gran Prix Exhibition, "Neutral Grey", Spiral, Tokyo

Group Exhibition

2010: "2010 FRANTIC UNDERLINES", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2009: "Extra Real" Exhibition, ULTRA002, Spiral Garden, Tokyo
2009: " My Favorite Things", art project frantic &unseal cotemporary Joint Exhibition,Tokyo
2009: "frantic Collection", art project frantic, Tokyo
2009: 10th SICF, Anniversary Gran Prix Artist Exh,"00-08" Spiral, Tokyo
2008: "Artist Show", Group Exhibition, art project frantic, Tokyo
2008: Graduation Works Exhibition, Tokyo Art University Museum, Tokyo
2008: 9th SICF, Gran Prix Group Exhibition, Spiral, Tokyo
2007: 8th SICF, Spiral, Tokyo
2006: Graduation Works Exhibition, Tokyo Art University Museum, Tokyo
2002: GEISAI 2, Big Sight, Tokyo

1983: Born in Sapporo
2009: Tokyo Art University, B.A. Industrial Arts

Awards

2008: "Fujino Prize”, Fujino Kinzoku Co.

Solo Exhibitions

2013: "The Resurrections", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2012: "The Cracked Portraits", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo

Group Exhibition

2010: "2010 FRANTIC UNDERLINES", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2010: "frantic drawings", Frantic Gallery, Tokyo
2009: "Extra Real" Exhibition, ULTRA002, Spiral Garden, Tokyo
2009: "My Favorite Things", art project frantic&unseal cotemporary Joint Exhibition, Tokyo
2009: "Archives", Shinwa Art Museum, Tokyo
2009: "Graduated Works Exhibition of Tokyo Art University", Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo
2008: "stop by art", Ueno Station Gallery, Tokyo
2008: "Vessels" Exhibition, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Department, Art Square, Tokyo
2006: "plug", LE DECO, Tokyo