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16/3/2008

Akira Ikezoe

Esso Gallery, New York

Jigoku:Hell, 2007, oil on canvas, 64'' x 51''

To coincide with this year’s Asian week, Esso Gallery is pleased to present the first New York show of Japanese artist Akira Ikezoe, Space as protagonist, curated by Natane Takeda.

With tiny, woven, muscular figures of people, trees and animals, as well as miniscule representations of flowers and fire flames, Akira Ikezoe creates textile-like patterns on the surface of his paintings and brings to each piece a whimsical and rhythmic essence. His gentle aesthetic and harmony are, in fact, the result of a well-calculated technique and scheme. Among all the objects in his paintings, it is the figures that stand out with an almost three-dimensional quality produced by his unique technique. Removing already applied background color with solvent, Ikezoe produces extraordinary subtlety in the resulting lines. The erased spaces appear as human figures and no longer exist as supporting factors, but become central to Ikezoe’s art.

Ikezoe’s work strongly references traditional Japanese art such as Byobu-e, a folding screen or scroll. This is exemplified by the way he uses space, asymmetrical composition, the simple flattened representation of objects, and his subtle color application. In the show, his two larger paintings evoke Jigoku-Zoshi, a late 12th-century scroll that depicts 8 great hells and 16 lesser hells in both text and paintings. It draws on Buddhist philosophy as understood in Japan. Through horrifying and foreboding hells, Jigoku-Zoshi encouraged the 12th century viewer to embrace the desire to be born into the Pure Land. In both works—Ikezoe’s and in the Jigoku-Zoshi-- naked men writhe in agony in flames or are tortured by devils. Yet, what Ikezoe conveys is the human struggle in real life, which he sees beauty. Ikezoe softens the feeling of terror and dread through his careful placement of each object, his use of embellished colors, and the almost comical facial expressions he gives to his figures. Ultimately, the work is infused with a decorative element and comical tone.

Created in-between the world of horror and comic, now and then, the real and unreal, and through the graphic use of space and uncomplicated presentation of the objects, the work assumes a mystic quality. Yet, this elusive almost simplistic tone and an impeccable harmony are deceptively sophisticated, supported by Ikezoe’s thoughtful schematics and care. As with a Zen garden, in Ikezoe’s work, space becomes the principal character—the protagonist.

Akira Ikezoe was born 1978 in Kochi, Japan. He lives and works in Tokyo. He holds a BA from Tama Art University. He is a recipient of Tomio Koyama Gallery Award and Gallery Naruyama Award at GEISAI #10 in 2006 and exhibited his work at Geisai Miami in 2007. This will be the first time his work is shown in a gallery in New York.

Esso Gallery
531 West 26th Street 4th floor - New York
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Admission free

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