EXHIBI­TIONS

MAKOTO SAITO

Taka Ishii Gallery presents an exhibition of new paintings by artist Makoto Saito.Makoto Saito creates portraits by digitally dissecting and reconstructing faces into intricate dot-matrix blueprints, which he then transfers onto canvas with paint and brush. Saito describes his process of arriving at an image by superimposing digital strata upon each other as “a journey in search of landscape.” Rendered in countless red, yellow, and blue halftone dots, Saito’s paintings can be understood as a transplantation of his own retina, composed of innumerable cone cells, onto the canvas. Viewers are not simply looking at a painting, but are gazing into the very retina through which Saito seeks out and discovers his landscapes. This exhibition presents four new large-scale works composed from fragmentary data drawn from numerous sources. The works are notable for incorporating layers of pencil drawings into their compositions, adding the physicality of drawing to Saito’s retinal landscapes.

TAKA ISHII GALLERY

Since opening in 1994 Taka Ishii Gallery has developed an exhibition program that introduces international contemporary artists to Japan while providing a global platform for the country’s emerging artists and contemporary masters. While the gallery aesthetic is rooted in the photographic, the program is contemporary and represents artists working in a variety of media. It maintains an annual calendar of eight exhibitions and publishes catalogues and artist books. In addition to its primary exhibition space at complex665, Taka Ishii Gallery has a second venue in Roppongi, Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film, which focuses on pre- and postwar Japanese photography and film. In 2023 the gallery added branches in Kyoto and Maebashi for hosting collaborative projects with artists. In 2024 it opened its newest exhibition space in the Kyobashi area of Tokyo.