Ritual Art Review - Chiba, Ohno, Tsukada in Tokyo

[rousoku]

Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya is currently hosting a three-artist show titled "Ritual" featuring Masaya Chiba, Satoshi Ohno, and Mamoru Tsukada. Ohno and Tsukada are represented by Tomio Koyama Gallery, and Chiba is represented by Shugoarts.

Because of the way that Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya is laid out - and the placement choices of the curator (or artists) - Ritual is really more like a two-person show with Masaya Chiba and Satoshi Ohno in the large downstairs space and a nearby solo show by Mamoru Tsukada in the smaller up/down stairs space. But that's not a bad thing. Ohno and Chiba's works have some elements in common, both thematically and the fact that they are both relatively young Japanese painters. Tsukada's contribution, on the other hand, is photography. His pieces might have been a little out of place had they been mixed directly in with the work of the other two artists.

Personally, I found the large space showing the works of Chiba and Ohno to be more compelling than the room with Tsukada's photographs. Because of that, this review will focus on the works of the two painters.

As you walk into the largest room at TWS Shibuya, you will find yourself face to face with three large Masaya Chiba paintings. Chiba is making a name for himself with his trademark natural landscapes thrown into slight surrealism by an abstract figure in the foreground. The works are not easy to explain, but very striking. The three large works here share different color palettes and different sizes, but work together thematically. The landscapes in the background of each painting are sharply contrasted by the lighter colored foreground abstractions. Also in this first room, there is a sketchbook hanging from a wire with drawings that Chiba has apparently been working on each Monday night. The sketches help you gain insight into his idea-to-final-work process - but aesthetically, they are easily overshadowed by the fully developed large paintings in the room.

On the back wall of the same room is a giant painting by Satoshi Ohno - the largest single work of any artist in this show. The big painting is an abstract composition with dark paints applied to a white background. On another wall, is one of Ohno's large prism paintings, which features detailed geometric patterns and grabs your attention more than the larger work nearby. Below the prism painting is an installation featuring smaller paintings and drawings by Ohno. You might have to step between the prism painting and the installation to get a good look at his more detailed drawings.

As you make your way to the TWS Shibuya back room, you will see a medium-sized landscape painting by Ohno in the narrow hallway on your right. It's easy to miss, but you shouldn't pass it by. Perhaps this single work is the one that comes closest to thematically linking the work of Chiba and Ohno. In the hallway work, Ohno has painted a forest landscape with one of his trademark prisms in the sky. The work does not resemble Chiba's style, but it's hard not to make some comparison when both artists have included paintings in this show featuring natural landscapes with strange disorienting elements. Did the curator have this in mind when he/she put these artist together, or is it just a coincidence?

As you walk toward the back room of TWS Shibuya, there are several of Ohno's human bust paintings, that are reminiscent of work from his solo show at Tomio Koyama last year. Like the prisms, these figures are well known elements of this artist's style.

In the final room, you find the walls packed floor to ceiling with 18 Masaya Chiba paintings - all of the works featuring trees. This series is called, appropriately enough, "Famous Tree Stories". Each painting has a piece of wood jutting out of the side of the frame. Like the larger Chiba paintings in the previous room, each tree is kept company by at least one of the artists' strange abstract foreground figures atop a wooden stick. What does it all mean - so many trees, all of them apparently "famous", and various lengths of wood sticking out of each frame? I wasn't sure, but it's quite an ambitious series of works from the young Japanese artist.

Both Masaya Chiba and Satoshi Ohno have been gaining attention in the Tokyo art scene over the last year. If you have an interest in Japanese Contemporary art, Ritual is a great opportunity to check out new works from these two young talents. Even if you are just curious about where Japanese contemporary art is heading, the price is right - admission to the Ritual show is free.

Link: Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya