Base Gallery is pleased to present “The Places Nobody Knows” a solo exhibition by Toshio Miyaoka.

Miyaoka calls the landscapes he paints “the places nobody knows”.
Since the landscapes he paints are based on the images from randomly chosen magazine clippings, they are naturally anonymous. Therefore, there exists no personal recollections or memories in his paintings. Furthermore, he paints the reversed image of the original one in the magazine clipping.

It seems as if each landscape calmly encompasses Miyaoka himself and he ends up becoming a still life, instead. Probably, painting the reversed image consciously is one method for him to stay away from crafty wits and scheme in artistic expressions.

Miyaoka’s painting somewhat makes us think that human being as an individual has little presence in reality and merely lingers in each place silently. Nonetheless, we live our life peacefully and seek to verify ourselves. It may be said that he paints “the places nobody knows” while embracing such lonesome in his works.

*image (left)
Landscape, 2013
oil on canvas, 130x193cm
© Toshio Miyaoka
courtesy of the artist and Base Gallery