We are pleased to announce that gallery UG Osaka Umeda will be holding Shoichi OKUMURA's solo exhibition "Synthetic Tropical" from Friday, January 3, 2025, to Tuesday, January 21, 2025.
This exhibition is a continuation of its earlier showing in Tennoz.


The theme of paradise has long been a central subject in East Asian art. Examples include the Pure Land in Buddhism, the immortal realms in Taoism, landscapes depicted in traditional ink paintings, and mandalas shown as expanded diagrams.
In contemporary times, the concept of "tropical" has joined this lineage. Unlike philosophical or religious notions of paradise, the "tropical" is an artificial image of paradise crafted by media and advertising. It represents a synthetic ideal shaped by modern influences.

"Synthetic Tropical" does not reflect the untamed natural world but instead portrays an artificial imitation of the tropics— a contemporary representation of paradise stripped of its rawness and wildness.

Shoichi OKUMURA