Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Kyoto based artist Teppei Kaneuji creates bizarre multimedia works that examine the mass consumption of his culture. He is perhaps best known for his Manga-inspired characters made of objects like plastic food, toys, scissors, and furniture parts. This is a fascination that has followed him since childhood, when he enjoyed playing with blocks and putting together everyday objects. Opening September 10th, Kaneuji will make his US solo exhibition debut at Jane Lombard Gallery in New York with "Deep Fried Ghost". The exhibit showcases the artist's five most notable series from 2002 through today: "White Discharge", "Muddy Steam from a Mug", "Teenage Fan Club", "Ghost in the Liquid Room", and "Games, Dance, Constructions, (Soft Toys)", in addition to new pieces created for the show.
Japanese artist Kazuhiro Hori (first featured here) combines soft, cuddly and adorable with depressing and morbid. His primary subject, highschool age girls, appear dejected and even mutilated by some unseen force behind this candy-filled facade. Slight and anonymous, they are almost helpless in this abnormal environment. In one painting, sugary syrup, flowers and toys ooze from teddy bear stomachs, emulating internal organs.
This weekend, Richard Heller gallery in Los Angeles will present a much anticipated new series of paintings by Japanese artist Hideaki Kawashima. The show title "Back and Forth" refers to the artist's interests in change, both in life and stylistically. His signature portraits of boys and girls have always employed a light and secular imagery. In other words, uniform ghost-like beings with only subtle inidivuality. Here, Kawashima elevates his subjects to what he calls 'symbolic images', with more color and details than before.