Sprout

YUICHI HIRAKO
SOLO EXHIBITION
SPROUT
OCT. 13 – NOV. 25

Galleri Christoffer Egelund is proud to present the young Tokyo-based artist, Yuichi Hirako’s third solo exhibition “Sprout”. The exhibition consists of a series of new paintings and sculptures where the Japanese artist seeks towards the light and examines the beneficial interaction between human and nature. It is the modern urbanized human being own relationship with the wild nature, which is central to Hirako’s artistic work. In a exuberant dream world where human life intermarriage with the primeval forest, Hirako identifies with both humor and insight the state of the civilization.

Yuichi Hirako’s universe is a world of hybrids, where figures alternate between human state and growing plant, and the realm of plants is an all-dominating explosive power. The renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted fantastic portrait heads made out of flowers, vegetables or fruits. In Hirakos paintings it seems like these plant people have been attributed bodies to walk around in a fairytale-like universe. Animated brushwork and pulsating colouring forms a world where the boundaries between culture and nature, man and plant and indoors/outdoors are non-existent.

In the art of Hirako it is not only nature and man that meet but also Western and Eastern notions. In Japan plants have earlier been given a godlike status, a phenomenon called Shinboku. In Western myths and fairy tales the wood and wild nature have been associated with quite other meanings; this is the habitat of witches, trolls and other horrific creatures. Hirako’s forests contain the holy and magical as well as the gloomy and threatening; this artist uses equally sized portions of light and dark colours.

Yuichi Hirako (b. 1982 in Okayama, Japan) graduated from Wimbledon College of Art in London in 2005. He now lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. Since his graduation he has exhibited at national as well as international venues including; The Museum of Modern Art (Gunma) in Japan, Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Museum of Kyoto, Temporary Contemporary in London. He has received several art prizes from which could be mentioned VOCA 2013 (Vision of Contemporary Art), Tokyo Wonderwall Prize 2010 and Shell Art Award 2009.

Galleri Christoffer Egelund cordially invites you to the opening of Yuichi Hirako: Sprout, Friday the 13^th  of October 2015. The artist will be present during the opening reception. The exhibition will run until November the 25^th. Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 11-18, Saturdays 12-16. For further information on artworks and press photos please contact the gallery at: hello@christofferegelund.dk or at +45 33 93 92 00.

YUICHI HIRAKO
SOLOUDSTILLING
SPROUT
OKT. 13 – NOV. 25

Galleri Christoffer Egelund er stolt af, at kunne præsentere den unge Tokyobaserede kunstner, Yuichi Hirakos tredje soloudstilling “Sprout”. Udstillingen består en serie nye malerier og skulpturer, hvor den japanske kunstner søger mod lyset og undersøger den gavnlige interaktion, der sker i mødet mellem mennesker og natur. Det er netop det moderne, urbaniserede menneskes eget forhold til naturen, der er kernen i Hirakos kunstneriske virke. I farvesprudlende drømmescenarier, hvor det moderne menneskeliv gror sammen med urskoven, indkredser Hirako, med både humor og indsigt, civilisationens tilstand.

Yuichi Hirakos univers er en verden af hybrider, hvor figurer bevæger sig flydende imellem at være plante og menneske, og hvor planteriget er en altdominerende eksplosiv naturkraft. Renæssancekunstneren Giuseppe Arcimboldo malede i 1500-tallet fantasifulde portræthoveder sammenstykket af blomster, frugt eller grøntsager. I Hirakos malerier synes disse at have fået kroppe for at vandre rundt i et eventyrligt univers. Med livlige penselstrøg og et pulserende kolorit tilbyder kunstneren os en verden, hvor grænserne mellem kultur og natur, menneske og plante samt inde og ude er ikke-eksisterende.

I Hirakos kunst er det ikke blot natur og menneske, der mødes, men også vestlige og østlige forestillinger. I Japan har man tidligere tillagt planter en guddommelig status, et fænomen kaldet Shinboku. I vestlige sagn og eventyr har skoven været tillagt en anden betydning; Her er det trolde, hekse og andre sære skabninger, der holder til i skovens mørke, og rummer nærmere uhygge og mystik. Hos Hirako rummer skoven det hellige og magiske såvel som det dunkle og truende, og der er lige dele lyse og mørke farver på paletten.

Yuichi Hirako (f. 1982 i Okayama, Japan) er uddannet på Wimbledon College of Art i London. Han  bor og arbejder i dag i Tokyo. Siden sin afgang fra Wimbledon College of Art i 2005 har han afholdt flere udstillinger i ind- og udland blandt andet på The Museum of Modern Art (Gunma) i Japan, Museum of Contemporary Art i Tokyo, The Museum of Kyoto, Temporary Contemporary i London, m.fl. Han har modtaget flere priser for sit arbejde herunder VOCA 2013 (Vision of Contemporary Art), Tokyo Wonderwall Prize 2010 samt Shell Art Award 2009.

Galleri Christoffer Egelund inviterer til åbningen af udstillingen ”Sprout” fredag den 13. oktober fra 16-19, hvor kunstneren vil være tilstede. Udstillingen løber fra 14. oktober – 25. November 2017. Åbningstider: tirsdag-fredag fra 11-18, lørdag fra 12-16. For yderligere om værkerne og pressefotos kontakt venligst galleriet på: hello@christofferegelund.dk eller tlf. +45 33 93 92 00