Tokyo Gallery+BTAP is pleased to announce the "Shinohara Exhibition: Ushio and Noriko", a joint exhibition by Ushio Shinohara and Noriko Shinohara. The documentary film "Cutie and the Boxer", which depicts the lives of the two artists, is currently in cinema around the world, and has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2014 Academy Awards. The Shinohara Exhibition features works by Ushio Shinohara, who has personified the avant-garde movement for the last five decades, and Noriko Shinohara’s autobiographical Cutie Series. We invite you to take this opportunity to see an exhibition by the two artists who, despite their love-hate relationship, share a common belief as artists. A reception party will be held on March 7th with the presence of the artists.

“Distorted perfection”
Einstein once said that we only have a future if we believe that the future is about thoughtfulness. This takes courage to continue. I choose distorted imperfection over the anticlimax of perfection.

Following the three principles of boxing painting – speed, beauty and rhythm – I strip away all that is superfluous to the creation of a painting or sculpture, and accentuate the origin of the idea behind the work, exclusively and to the maximum degree possible.
- Ushio Shinohara

Cutie was born from anger, in the same way that Aphrodite was born from the foaming see spawned by Uranus’ semen.

After evolving into an alien being, Cutie found that she was able to control bull terriers, a talent she cultivated. Cutie then evolved further. Sometimes she is Audrey, sometimes Marylin, sometimes Raphael’s The Madonna of the Chair, and sometimes Titian’s “Rape of Cutipa”. Changing her shape freely, Cutie has now become the heroine of a film. It remains to be seen whose form Cutie will take next.
- Noriko Shinohara

*image (left)
courtesy of Noriko Shinohara