We are pleased to announce Yoshimasa Tsuchiya’s solo exhibition "Chimera" at MEGUMI OGITA GALLERY.

 

Yoshimasa Tsuchiya was born in 1977 and specialized in sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts, and completed PhD, Sculpture Conservation at its graduate school in 2007. He was exposed to numerous old works there, and learnt that they had been created with remarkable boldness and novelty in each era. Based on this experience, he has continued to take on challenges with traditional techniques and innovative expression. In recent years, exhibitions have been held at Yokosuka Museum of Art and THE GINZA SPACE with increasing popularity and reputation.

 

Tsuchiya has established an unmatched painting method of sculptures, which colors subtly appear from inside to the white surface. In addition, the technique of splitting the head and inserting eyes of crystal stones or glass, which is seen in making Buddhist statues, is used to create works with inimitable mystique. Glass eyes are made by an artist Fukuo Tanaka. Tsuchiya’s distinctive works at a glance have such originality, and are said to be "the latest classics" with appeal transcending generations.

He has created animal motifs as symbols, which incarnate unshaped thoughts in the form of living things. The idea is originated from the images of animals in myths and narratives, and the creatures develop into various forms through repeated mutation and cross breeding, inspired by improved garden plants and aquarium fish.

 

In the title of the exhibition, "Chimera" defines as variant forms of life that are a jumble of all living things, and it is said to combine unnatural fragility with potential strength. The figures of deities or Buddha with many faces and arms, such as Asura statue, appear in various religions and mythologies. In the anxiety of the coronavirus pandemic, Tsuchiya felt that the power to control the evil would exist not in sound and ideal shapes he had pursued, but in distorted ones which he was not quite familiar with. The title also refers to "awe, healing, inspiring, dreamlike, a bunch of inconsistent and fragmented images" in it.

 

In addition to 8 new sculptures, 1 painting will be on display, for the first time in the artist’s exhibition, bringing us closer to his uniqueness from a fresh perspective. Yoshimasa Tsuchiya’s solo exhibition "Chimera" will also be on our website for those who cannot come to the venue.

 

Fukuo Tanaka’s glass exhibition "Mimicry and Metamorphosis" will be held here on the same dates.