Tezukayama Gallery is pleased to announce our next exhibition ‘Neutral Palm Square’ by Kazuma Koike. This will be Koike’s first solo exhibition in Osaka.

Koike was born in 1980 in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. However, he spent his early life in Argentina and Spain because of his parents’ career. These life experiences have somewhat affected his thinking and artistic choices. Although his work seems hard to easily comprehend, rather than this, his work stirs our imagination. You might think his creations are from a dream or storybook. To try to read his intention, we need to imagine, and therefor our interest further deepens.

In recent years, Koike has been exhibiting his art work along with ready made objects. He says that he sees the objects and his work equally and arranges them carefully in the space. In doing so, he wants to make invisible connections between the objects and work. In this exhibition, Koike aims to emphasize the relation between his work and the objects more than before. The tension and connection within the space will stimulate the viewers’ imagination.

"Arriving in a tropical country, checking into a hotel, leaving a bag, and heading out for a walk without a map. The breeze makes the coconut trees sway. A park with a palm tree, a weightlifter, a poster of some hero perhaps, and a shrine float by. Suddenly, on the opposite side of the street, a flower in a tree. 'Is that flower blooming from this tree, or is it a parasite sucking life from the tree?' This question arises but as standing there the answer is obscure. Not going there to check but instead returning to the hotel."

*image (left)
courtesy of the artist and Aisho Miura Arts