EXHIBI­TIONS

SAYA IRIE

Born in 1983 in Okayama, Saya Irie studied art at Hiroshima City University in 2009 and is currently based in Hiroshima. Irie is known for her unique practice of converting two-dimensional images into three-dimensional forms. She starts by using an eraser to erase a pre-existing picture and then collects the residue and makes a sculptural figure out of it. For instance, in one work she erased an image of the goddess Guanyin from a scroll only to reconstitute the figure in three dimensions, hovering in space. In another, she turned a portrait on a banknote into a bust that she placed on top of the banknote. By taking icons that have attained “currency” through their ubiquity, erasing them, and then recreating them as three-dimensional figures that occupy the same space as the viewer, Irie’s works pose wry questions about how we interact with representations in contemporary life.

TOKYO GALLERY + BTAP

Tokyo Gallery was founded in 1950 as the first contemporary art gallery in Tokyo. In 2002 the gallery opened a new space, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, in Beijing’s 798 Art District, and it now operates as Tokyo Gallery + BTAP. Over the course of its history the gallery has introduced Western avant-garde artists such as Lucio Fontana, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Yves Klein, and Jackson Pollock to Japan. It has also supported experimental projects by some of Japan’s most important artists, including Taro Okamoto, Kazuo Shiraga, and Jiro Takamatsu as well as key figures associated with Mono-ha like Lee Ufan and Kishio Suga. In the 1970s the gallery began working with Korean artists, such as Kim Whanki and Park Seo-Bo, and in the late 1980s it started exhibiting then-unknown Chinese artists, including Cai Guo-Qiang and Xu Bing. Carrying this spirit forward, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP continues the mission of discovering and promoting both established and rising artists while regularly participating in international art fairs and working closely with museums and biennale exhibitions.