We are pleased to announce "Portraits", a special exhibition by 6 artists at MEGUMI OGITA GALLERY.

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Hikari Shimoda plunged into the contemporary fine art world after completing her studies in illustration at the prestigious Kyoto Saga University of Arts in Japan. She has always created portraits of children as a concept. Their appearance, "everyone, not anyone," is also a mirror of the real world. For this exhibition, she drew the figure of a person who lived in 2020, when great anxiety and fear became a common language for humankind, as a person who seems to have many scratches and seemingly disturbing. In the background, she collages newspapers to represent the modernity of the time and the present is the past.

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Hebru Brantley was born in Chicago, has a B.A. in Film from Clark Atlanta University and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He draws the viewer into his work world through conceptual characters. The characters that he produces express complex human emotion such as nostalgia, spirit, power and hope. His multi-layered and multi-faceted works, vivid color schemes and pop art motifs make the work accessible to a wide audience. His work challenges the traditional view of the hero or protagonist and insists on a contemporary and distinct narrative that shapes and impacts the viewer’s gaze. 

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Michael Sowa is a painter and illustrator born in Berlin, Germany. He began his career as a painter in 1992, and has cemented his reputation since he created paintings and lamps for “Amélie”, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film in 2001. His humorous view of the world and meticulous painting style, in which several dimensions seem to coexist in a single painting, have won him a worldwide following, and he has become one of best-known artists in Japan through his illustrations for children's books.

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Satoru KOIZUMI completed his postgraduate studies in sculpture at Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts in 2009 and now lives and works in Okinawa, Japan. He is one of the artists who has received attention in the last few years for his official collaboration works with Disney. He has harmonised faces and figures of various animals, from the ferocious to the vulnerable, living in their natural habitats, with those of humans living in society, to create a single life in sculpture. The seemingly lovable wood sculpture, carved with traditional techniques, reveals his deep reflection on the diversity of contemporary society. 

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Kengo Nakamura studied Japanese painting at Tama Art University and has created unique paintings using motifs that represent contemporary society, such as emoticons in emails, floor plans of one-room flats, cartoon balloons and character silhouettes. In addition to collaborating with creators from other genres, he has organised exhibitions and symposia, and is one of the leading artists of our time. In recent years, his reputation has grown significantly overseas, as he holds solo exhibitions and exhibits his works in museums.

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Issei Otani studied art at Wako University, and has been actively exhibiting his works, painting on familiar subjects. His collaborations have included music, fashion and hotels. He boldly blends different elements of the West and East, such as powerful distortion of objects to emphasise subjectivity, use of intense colours of emotions, composition flatness, rhythmic intensity of lines, and inky graphic expression, to create a unique world based on his own experiences.

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Portraits have a long history, moving from idealised figures of power in ancient times to popular memorials as time went on, and taking on a completely different meaning when photography replaced it. The social role of portraits is particularly controversial today, when even painting is expected to have a special significance. In the past, the main subject was human beings, but in recent years, characters and animals have been portrayed on an equal footing, showing that artists are projecting something more intimate. It is also possible to read in them the essence of objects and messages that are not captured in the photograph.

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The exhibition features approximately 15 portraits, including paintings and sculptures by 6 artists from different countries, and observes the diversity of people with their thoughts such as ideals, anxieties and worries in modern times. The special exhibition "Portraits" will also be available on our website for those who are unable to come to the venue.