Shingo Ozaki, Ryuichi Ohira, Kanzo Shibata, Ryuta Iida 25 x 4 = □

25x4=□ Exhibition
2007/4/4(wed) - 4/28(sat)

25x4=□ Exhibition
Wednesday 4th - Saturday 28th April 2007

Opening： Wednesday 4th April 2007, 18:00 - 20:00

Tokyo Gallery is holding "25x4=□", a group exhibition of Ryuichi Ohira, Kanzo Shibata, Shingo Ozaki, Ryuta Iida.

Ryuichi Ohira envisages grasslands, seascapes and the whole universe within tatami mats, which have been close to Japanese people's hearts since the Heian Period. In the same way as tea master Sennorikyu's two mat tea room "Taian" before him, Ohira's wood carving and installation work creates a space within the increasing expanse of nature where people can converse regardless of race, social status or background. Kanzo Shibata uses nichrome wire to cut out multiple layers of Styrofoam to produce flat, vertical sculptures that convey a sense of grandeur, but also flexibility and lightness. Making use of the unique way in which light passes through this material, Shibata brings out the silhouette and roughness of the work to create a sense of ripples spreading throughout the gallery space. Shingo Ozaki makes video works that show Noh masks moving up and down at different speeds on five separate screens, giving expression to a sense of change and the stories that emerge from it. Containing moments that give an expressive quality to these masks that otherwise have unchanging facial expressions, this work gives a jolt to the viewer's trust in our everyday, unconsciously performed behaviour, such as the way in which we read each other's facial expressions. Ryuta Iida cuts up books into fine strips and leaving them open, hangs them from walls and the ceiling to transform the ‘language and meaning' of books into ‘non-language and meaninglessness'. The piles of thin paper recall sceneries from the natural world: clouds, mountain landscapes and endlessly flowing waves.

All born at the beginning of the 1980s, these four artists are all of the same generation. Saying themselves that "our unconscious experienced of the golden age of the economic bubble when we were very young has made a distinctive mark on us", one could say these artists' works share a common mood of nihilism, a perception of the events that occur around them as a falsified and fanciful form of entertainment. However, deep within these works one can also find the joy of artless and sincere dialogues and encounters that are born out of with the small but sure elements of nature and the everyday.

These 25 year old artists have come together to produce an "experiential" exhibition. The space created by the interaction of these four artists' work carries the possibilities of "an unknown number=□" and "infinity= □". Tokyo Gallery hopes that you will come and see this exhibition.