In collaboration with Gallery Kogure (Tokyo), Gallery EXIT is delighted to present the rarely seen works of Takahiro HIRABAYASHI, Kenichiro ISHIGURO and Takato YAMAMOTO in a blemish, a beauty. These Japanese artists are moved by the beauty that aging and decay sometimes bring. They work to convey this fleeting sensation with a shared dedication to refined craftsmanship.

Takahiro HIRABAYASHI keeps a distance to observe his models and survey his or her psyche. They are often portrayed as wounded individuals, either physically or psychologically, and inhabit a scenery and elegant attire that is a projection of his reading of who the model is.

Trained in Spain, where he honed in on traditional drawing technique, Kenichiro ISHIGURO approaches a painting’s surface with great care not to over beautify it. He adheres to the aesthetic idea of mancha (blemishing), where the patina embodies the passage of time and memory. Ishiguro’s paintings hold the same expressive power as the object being represented.

Takato YAMAMOTO is known in Japan for his highly detailed drawings that feature androgynous men/women/boys/girls with a strongly morbid overtone. This phantasmagoric blend of the macabre and eroticism with Ukiyo-e Pop reveals a preoccupation with occidental myths. His characters are usually staring directly into the viewer’s face while engaging in the midst of strange acts.