Past Exhibition

From January 30 (Tue) to May 26 (Sun) 2024, the Shiseido Gallery will present solo exhibitions by each of the three artists selected for the 17th "shiseido art egg" – Maki Hayashida, Zai Nomura, and Hirotoshi Iwasaki.

"shiseido art egg" is an open-call program in which Shiseido supports emerging artists whose creations stimulate the senses and offer different and diverse values, expanding the possibilities for new kinds of beauty, the opportunity to showcase their work in solo exhibitions. Since the program was launched in 2006 a total of 48 artists / artist units have presented their work in this manner, and gone on to grow their presence on the art scene.

This edition of "shiseido art egg," the 17th, attracted 351 entrants, from which three were selected: Maki Hayashida, Zai Nomura, and Hirotoshi Iwasaki. Entries were judged on whether they offered an original perspective on today's world, and engaged earnestly with contemporary struggles and uncertainties to express new values and a new kind of aesthetic awareness. Hayashida explores the potential of photography as a new form of art, with the real world as her theme. Nomura takes an idiosyncratic view of ever-evolving information media, interrogating the essence of what it means to be human, and to exist. Iwasaki employs rotoscope techniques to explore the possibilities of animation as a form of artistic expression, centering his works on the act of remembrance.
With support from curators the chosen three will mine their respective themes and expression to embark on the production of new works, culminating in a series of exhibitions, firstly by Hayashida, then Nomura, and finally, Iwasaki. We are confident their offerings addressing changes to previously unassailable conventions and customs, and suffused with the sense of a beautiful and vibrant future for society, will prove a revelatory, thought-provoking treat for viewers.

Once all three exhibitions have ended, the "shiseido art egg prize" will be awarded to the artist whose work best exemplified the creation of new value. The 17th edition judges are artist and prominent figure on Japan's creative scene Kengo Kito, musician and artist Shuta Hasunuma, and mythologist and Kokugakuin University professor Kikuko Hirafuji.

Maki Hayashida is concerned with the law of unintended consequences, by which self-serving human behaviors bring unforeseen results. Her approach here takes the form of a project that involves spending time and energy on research, its theme, reclaimed rubbish tips on the British coast, and cases of large-scale illegal waste dumping around Japan. Her visual documentation by photographs, and depth of her spatial imagery form unique installations that encourage the viewer to observe reality in new ways.

After a year or so of study in London, my perception of photography as art has changed dramatically. At the same time, I have become even more interested in photography as a medium, and decided on a direction for my practice, which is to work with photography as contemporary art, and as a representation of different cultures. I am truly honored and grateful to have the Shiseido Gallery as my first place to realize this, and will do my best to present a photographic installation that will give viewers a fresh perspective, and leave them thinking.

To date Zai Nomura has attempted to uncover life, death, and what lies between through a variety of media, taking mainly photography and sculpture as his materials. This exhibition will include a photographic device that prints photos of the dead onto water, and a performative work that will continue to run for decades. Viewing information media and its intersection of past, present and future, and transformation from analog to digital, through an idiosyncratic lens, Nomura interrogates the essence of what it is to be human, and ways of existing.

I am very honored to become part of the more than 100-year history of the Shiseido Gallery. At the same time, I also realize that the next 100 years will likely be characterized by conflict, epidemics, deep racial divides, and large-scale climate change. My aspiration is to elevate my exhibition to the best it can be , while hoping that one day, when humans finally meet the inhabitants of other planets, we can engage in dialogue with them as more equal beings unconstrained by differences in age, nationality, gender, or appearance.

Using the rotoscope technique of tracing over live-action footage to make an animation, Hirotoshi Iwasaki explores the possibilities of this technique as a form of artistic expression. For this exhibition, he traces over documentary footage of people no longer able to meet in person, and places deserted, during the pandemic. He views this as an act of remembrance, superimposing it in his mind on the origins of painting as recorded by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, that is, Butades the "Maid of Corinth" tracing the outline of her departing lover's shadow on the wall. A rotoscope rethinking of what it is to paint, and the ways of memory.

First of all allow me say how grateful I am for this opportunity. As the pandemic limited and simplified our movements and actions, I began to ponder the act of remembrance. Sensing it was fate to be able to exhibit work with its origins in this idea of remembrance at a gallery belonging to Shiseido that honors and preserves the memory of Shiseido's traditional arabesque design, at the same time I hope this will provide a chance to revisit the intersection of animation and art, by seeing how far animation as a form of expression can be taken in a gallery space. I look forward to seeing what occurs here.

After the opening of each exhibition, a video of the artist explaining his or her work at the venue will be posted on the official Shiseido Gallery website. Details to follow on the website.