Above Second is proud to present the solo exhibition Shinagawa Shinju, featuring the hybrid worlds of Japan-born artist Tat Ito. In this selection of paintings, Tat Ito paints like the storytellers of Japanese rakugo (落語), a form of verbal entertainment based on comical monologues about ordinary lives. Taking the position of a painterly rakugoka (落語家), or lone storyteller, Ito illustrates shared histories and experiences to create witty, profound, and sometimes-comical narratives of the world.

Ito’s compositions reflect the multiple vantage points used in Japanese ukiyo-e prints. His spaces are connected but disjointed reflecting the global community itself. Though linked by shared histories, the characters in Ito’s paintings, often engaged in private acts, feel isolated and detached from each other. By overlaying differing perspectives, and referencing different cultures, politics, and personal narratives, Ito investigates the relationship between traditional and contemporary ideologies, and the similarities and differences of individual experience.

The title of the show Shinagawa Shinju is taken from an ironic story in the rakugo tradition about a prostitute who, over-the-hill and depressed about money, decides to kill herself. She convinces a young customer to commit suicide with her so that her death will be seen as romantic, as opposed to a confession of failure. In the end, a wealthy customer offers her money, returning her lust for life, and she decides not to take her life after all. Ito alludes to this ironic and comical tale as a way to connect past and present, and investigate how cultural beliefs are inherited by the current generation. Ito’s works articulate the overlap of destiny and accountability, how our present reflects the past, and how we can live up to the follies of our ancestors.