Seishu Niihira “DiVision”

ARTCOURT Gallery

[Image: Seishu Niihira "Diffraction #1" (2017)]

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Focusing on the distortion and division of space that defines the phenomena of noise, Niihira began constructing his own pictorial world since his time as a postgraduate student, around themes such as multiple time axes and optical principles. While being realistic depictions, works such as his Reflection series combine dissimilar images while keeping their contours ambiguous, and the Refraction series of works cover the picture plane with an impressionistic hand, and try to capture the reality of the subject through dynamic variations in expression. Through an experimental approach that uses the phenomena of reflection, transmission, and refraction of light, and visual effects, he continues to pursue the contemporary expression of time and space in painting.
Last year, through his experience staying in the U.S. and the Netherlands for half a year, the realm of Niihira’s works that mingles reality with illusion turned from monochrome towards color. By shifting to a thin metal panel for his support medium, the stratified composition of the image was further complicated, thus completing Diffraction #1, a work that shows undulating and splitting movement. One societal phenomenon is the adaptation to the bundles of information that flow from the Internet in rough segments, leading to the dispersal of countless thoughts and feelings of individuals. Along with the time and existence distinct to virtual space, there is also the reality of an information network gradually manifested between people. Taking these phenomena as cues, Niihira has come to a breakthrough in his art making, and now refers to the splitting of an individual’s field of view from within as “DiVision.”
This exhibition will be composed of works such as Diffraction #1, and a major work, Division, a set of eight paintings that are fusions of personal desires to see, as well as the series Inversion, which collects and places multiple images into a sequence on a single plane, using time and space as themes. A chance to experience a fascinating world of painting that questions the contemporary ability to share images and the act of seeing, along with inciting people’s instinctive pleasure in seeing.

[Related Event]
Artists Talk (Japanese only)
Date: Apr.7 (Sat) From 14:30-16:00
Please refer to the official site for further details.