ARATANIURANO is pleased to announce "One as All" an upcoming exhibition by Toshiyuki Konishi to be held from Dec 19, 2009 to Jan 30, 2010. This will be his second solo show, following "House of Human" held in 2007.

Figures portrayed by Toshiyuki Konishi (born 1980 in Hiroshima) have red eyes, nose and mouth, with white hair. Redacting all information needed to determine a particular individual and using unique wavering brushstrokes, these portraits persistently evoke viewers' imaginations.

Konishi is a young painter who actively participates in many exhibitions. Last year, using a museum's cafe area to resemble a theater, Konishi displayed oil paintings and drawings with a large painting (194 x 260 cm) as the centerpiece (New Artist Picks / Toshiyuki Konish "Living for a Thousand Years", Yokohama Museum of Art). This year, he has participated in the "Emotional drawing" exhibit (SOMA Museum of Art, Seoul) and "VOCA 2009 - The vision of Contemporary Art" (Ueno Royal Museum).

For his much-awaited second solo show, the chosen keyword is "One as All", a phrase coined by Konishi to represent his current state of mind and derived from the Eastern philosophy of "One in all, all in one".

Through this keyword, one can discern the artist's commitment to directly take on the academic painting method of "portraits" while striving to reach a universalistic expression that houses various elements such as color, shape, quality, and structure in each stroke of the brush. In this exhibition, a portrait of a figure holding a brush that seemingly symbolizes the artist himself will be displayed, along with about 10 new pieces.

Konishi's portraits are based on the artist's private family photographs and use the smallest unit of society, such as family and individuals, as motifs. With this as a starting point, his works seek out important moments, places, and memories which are hidden in all of us, but are difficult to capture precisely because of their closeness. Please come experience such essences of Kinishi's paintings at this exhibition.

One as All

Since this year, I've been thinking a lot about ancient religions and animism while creating my works. Perhaps because of that, the phrase "One in All, All in One" started to refrain in my head. So, on a whim, I thought maybe it would be a good title for my exhibition. But the meaning was too wide and I can't really take responsibility for such a philosophical worldview. I soon forgot that I even considered this as a title. Yet one day, when I changed "One in All" to "One as All" it seemed to click into place. Once I switched to using "One as...", this phrases seemed to express my sentiments well: that there's no way to escape from the binds of the "individual" even when attempting to speak about the "all", and yet that one still can't help but to speak about it. Also, I thought it suited my current situation, as I can only create from a completely individual place, but my aspiration is to be able to reach a universalistic from of expression someday.

-- Toshiyuki Konishi