biscuit gallery 1st anniversary book 刊行のご案内

biscuit gallery, which opened in March 2021, celebrated its first anniversary in March 2022. To commemorate this milestone, we published the “biscuit gallery 1st anniversary book.”

【biscuit gallery 1st anniversary book Overview】

This book compiles photographs of 14 exhibitions held over the year, along with texts prepared for each exhibition and newly written texts by Shinzo Okuoka, offering a glimpse into the contemporary art scene of 2021.

Featured Exhibitions:
biscuit gallery Opening Exhibition I
biscuit gallery Opening Exhibition II
五十嵐大地 “gjallarhorn”
ミノリ “Little Voice”
やましたあつこ “Waltz of Petals”
水戸部七絵 “Rock is Dead”
三浦光雅 × 井上七海 “perspective”
多田恋一朗 × 那須佐和子 “b⇔d”
永田優美 “positive”
宮林妃奈子 × 田中幹希 × 田中綾子 “three”
小林椋 × 山本直輝 “Strange Perforated Surface”
東慎也 × 飯田美穂 “Welcome to the Painting Jungle”
Buyable! Collector Exhibition “Collectors’ Collective Vol.5”
biscuit gallery group exhibition “re”

 

The “biscuit gallery 1st anniversary book” will be sold simultaneously with biscuit gallery’s first anniversary exhibition “grid” (March 3–27, 2022).

For details on the “grid” exhibition, please see here.

In addition to sales at biscuit gallery, you can also purchase from the EC site “OIL by Bijutsu Techo” provided by Bijutsu Techo.

Please purchase from here:
https://oil.bijutsutecho.com/artbooks/998/1100014766


Below are comments from participating artists (in exhibition order)

五十嵐大地 (“biscuit gallery Opening Exhibition I”, “gjallarhorn”)
“Congratulations on the opening of the first anniversary exhibition. biscuit gallery has been of great help to me, including hosting my solo exhibition last year. I find Shibuya to be a fascinating city with both a rich history and rapidly changing trends. Furthermore, there is increasing attention paid to art in recent years, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to present my work in such a place. I sincerely wish for continued growth and development.”

トモトシ (“biscuit gallery Opening Exhibition I”)
“I was honored to participate in biscuit gallery’s first exhibition. I will continue working hard so that I might be invited again!”

中澤ふくみ (“biscuit gallery Opening Exhibition I”)
“I love the feeling of moving between rooms in this gallery. When I went to see works on the first and third floors in the group exhibition I participated in, it felt like I was looking into the apartment of a neighbor next door, which made my heart race. I would definitely like to exhibit here again.”

石井海音 (“biscuit gallery Opening Exhibition II”)
“Thank you for featuring my work. In ‘opening exhibition II,’ it was very stimulating to work alongside contemporary artists from setup onwards.”

服部芽生 (“biscuit gallery Opening Exhibition II”)
“Since it was my first exhibition at a domestic gallery, Representative Kobayashi listened to me with great care and understanding. Through the group exhibition, not only was I able to show my work to many people, but conversations with artists and collectors from various genres became valuable experiences. And the gallery, which incorporates natural light, was a wonderful space where the appearance of the works changes with the seasons, weather, and time of day. For me, it became a special exhibition that remained in my heart.”

ミノリ (“Little Voice”)
“There is no protagonist here. No significant cinematic narrative. Small voices scatter here and there, each bearing a little light. Should they be swallowed by large entities like language, perhaps this light would be lost. These are fragments of something fleeting and fragile.”

やましたあつこ (“Waltz of Petals”)
“I was very happy to have the opportunity to exhibit alongside ミノリ, whom I’ve known since university.”

井上七海 (三浦光雅 × 井上七海 “perspective”)
“Both 三浦光雅 and I delegate work decisions to something else. However, our approaches, though similar, come from completely different angles, and this exhibition attempted to examine those differences. By exhibiting and gaining insights into those differences, I felt it became an opportunity for growth as an artist.”

多田恋一朗 (多田恋一朗 × 那須佐和子 “b⇔d”)
“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to present not only flat works but also installation pieces that are difficult to sell in my two-person exhibition with 那須佐和子. Thanks to this, we were able to create a wonderful exhibition. I sincerely wish for the continued development of biscuit gallery.”

宮林妃奈子 (“three”)
“Thank you for everything during the three exhibition. Happy first anniversary to biscuit gallery!”

田中幹希 (“three”)
“The contrast between works with noise removed and works with hand traces; placing things with different approaches in the same space reveals their differences.”

田中綾子 (“three”)
“Exhibiting with two artists working on completely different themes was stimulating for me. Through their themes of ‘anonymous’ ‘memory’ and the ‘necessity’ of forgetting, I had the opportunity to think more deeply about ‘memory.'”

山本直輝 (“Strange Perforated Surface”)
“I first saw 小林椋’s work at an exhibition held in 2018 titled ‘Purplism in Purple Town,’ staged in Sagamihara. I also participated in that exhibition and exchanged a few words with him. Then, two years later, when planning this exhibition, I brought up his name, and our two-person exhibition came to fruition. 小林椋’s work may appear sleek and cutting-edge at first glance, but it is wrapped in a certain sadness that somehow doesn’t quite polish away. It also feels somewhat aloof and inorganic, as if it simply exists there. My work shares similar qualities and tendencies, so I feel a sense of kinship with his work. Though inorganic and tinged with sadness, his works are not empty. I hope you will appreciate an exhibition of such works.”

飯田美穂 (“Welcome to the Painting Jungle”)
“‘A trembling signal dives into the world of painting, or freely switches between seeing and not seeing.’

There are many things in my studio. Artworks, tools, and more. Yet the moment I turn off the lights in the evening and leave, they all disappear from view. Without light, I can only confirm their existence through touch, smell, and atmosphere.

I always think about what happens when something is missing. What occupies my thoughts most is, ‘What if I could no longer see?’ Looking at great predecessors, Goya lost his hearing, and Monet lost his sight. What kind of world did they see upon losing their senses? Sometimes, when I deliberately close my eyes, the weight of my eyelids and faint light distance themselves from reality.

Information obtained through this body can take form, whether factual or fake. Information itself is a malleable virtual image, endlessly changeable (like when diving into water—undulating, elusive). My brain catches and outputs these. During the output process, information undergoes mostly automatic conversion, passes through my body, and transforms into paint. At the speed of flowing stars and water. In such situations, my existence is treated merely as a trigger. Things people try to see, things they wish to see but cannot. And how to see, how not to see. Perhaps I am establishing a realm of such judgment through my own output, attempting to pick up something that cannot be gathered alone.

With this understanding, I consider collaboration with 東慎也’s work, which possesses tactile materiality, while keeping the body in mind—including the eyes—and present what I am capable of now.”

岩岡純子 (“Collectors’ Collective Vol.5”)
“It was wonderful to learn of the passion each collector held for their collections through their heartfelt writings. I was also happy to participate in the exhibition.”

黒坂祐 (“Collectors’ Collective Vol.5”)
“Through this new endeavor, I was able to encounter people and artworks I might never have met otherwise. I am very much looking forward to what kind of world will be created from here on.”

星山耕太郎 (“Collectors’ Collective Vol.5”)
“I participated at the invitation of gutsurohi. Witnessing artworks created as the artist’s world view living within a collector’s world view after time had passed brought me joy. Thank you.”

渡辺豊 (“Collectors’ Collective Vol.5”)
“I thought that once a work was collected, it would be difficult to display it again in the same exhibition space without something like a museum exhibition. However, this exhibition was a precious opportunity to display new works alongside other artists. In particular, the work collected by gutsurohi was one I held special affection for, so reuniting with it after several years was joyful.
While constantly pursuing improvements to works—exploring composition, color, and themes—displaying past works alongside new ones allowed me to reconfirm the core of my own practice. Seeing both old and new works by other artists selected by certain criteria provided many insights, and I was able to be seen by many collectors.”

大庭孝文 (biscuit gallery group exhibition “re”)
“I submitted a work from my ongoing series ‘Correct Landscape’ to ‘re’. This work is painted based on landscape as seen from my perspective—subjective and concrete. However, I have added numerous revisions and omissions to the landscape information, resulting in a abstract appearance overall.
I am interested in the process of memory (recollection and forgetting) and incorporate the nature of these processes (convenient falsification and beautification) into my painting practice. My interest in the mechanisms of memory originated from my grandmother’s Alzheimer’s disease. Since there is a possibility of genetic inheritance, I maintain interest in this field, including prevention for myself.
Just as different people hold different perspectives on a single event, ‘Correct Landscape’ represents what is correct for me.”

菊地匠 (biscuit gallery group exhibition “re”)
“My work is influenced by the concept of Off-modernism. I also place great importance on the process of wiping off paint (wipe off). Playing on the two ‘offs,’ I named my body of work ‘Off-Painting.’ Since then, far from paradise, I have been painting slightly discolored pictures.”

鈴木康太 (biscuit gallery group exhibition “re”)
“Every art university in Japan has a Japanese painting department, yet few people—even among the general public or students majoring in Japanese painting—can clearly convey the concept of ‘Japanese painting.’ It is often confused with the art that originally existed in Japan.
I believe that the complex background and terminology have created a divide between Japanese painting and contemporary art scenes.
I think it was significant for the Japanese art scene to have received such a curatorial proposal. Being able to view works by artists sharing common roots yet working independently in one place was an exhibition experience unlike any other for me.”

出口雄樹 (biscuit gallery group exhibition “re”)
“I participated in agreement with the exhibition concept. In the roundtable discussion, various opinions were expressed regarding the gap between ‘Japanese painting’ and ‘contemporary art,’ but we did not reach a common understanding; I sense the answer was entrusted to each artist’s future activities. Through the exhibition, I have re-membered the foundations of Japanese painting and, re-considering on my own terms, I intend to continue making work as a twenty-first-century artist, reacting sensitively while being alive.”

中原亜梨沙 (biscuit gallery group exhibition “re”)
“The work I submitted, ‘Nobody knows,’ is a reconstruction of my own work painted several years ago. During the pandemic, when it became difficult to find motifs and gather my thoughts while taking walks as before, I began a series where I would use my previous works as motifs to create new paintings. The reason I have simplified the composition and three-dimensionality compared to my earlier works is also because I have a strong desire not to seek the completion of a work solely in the abundance of pixels on the surface, but to approach it from a different direction. It was a challenging piece for me, but combined with the meaning of the group exhibition title ‘re,’ I was glad to have created it at this time. Thank you.”


biscuit gallery 1st anniversary book

 

Contents: 2021 Exhibition Archives, Various Texts, and More
Featured Artists: 五十嵐大地, 岡田佑里奈, 清川漠, トモトシ, 中澤ふくみ, 森井沙季, 石井海音, 木村翔馬, 服部芽生, 御村紗也, 山田康平, 山本捷平, ミノリ, やましたあつこ, 水戸部七絵, 三浦光雅, 井上七海, 多田恋一朗, 永田優美, 宮林妃奈子, 田中幹希, 田中綾子, 小林椋, 山本直輝, 東慎也, 飯田美穂, 青木美紅, 網代幸介, 岩岡純子, 城月, 黒坂祐, 庄司朝美, 田中一太, 花沢忍, 平野真美, Funny Dress-up Lab, 星山耕太郎, 松田ハル, 三瓶玲奈, 渡辺豊, 大庭孝文, 菊地匠, 古家野雄紀, 鈴木康太, タニグチカナコ, 出口雄樹, 中原亜梨沙 ※Not in any particular order
Pages: 320p
Photography: 松尾宇人
Design: 八木幣二郎
Publisher: biscuit Inc.
Publication Date: March 1, 2022
Price: 2,500 yen (excluding tax)
Pre-order Bonus: biscuit gallery Sticker ※Either white or black will be included. Limited quantity available.
Notes: Eligible for raffle preference in biscuit gallery’s first anniversary exhibition “grid”

 

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