gallery UG Osaka Umeda is pleased to announce “Animal Playhouse Act 2 - Oh! Saka!”, a solo exhibition by Junko ASANO, from April 24 till May 14, 2024.
ASANO has been an exclusive artist of gallery UG since 2011. She has held a solo exhibition at Gallery UG Bakurocho every year, while also participating in various art fairs both in Japan and abroad. We have primarily promoted her work in Asia, with a focus on art fairs in Taiwan.
Starting with "Animal Playhouse Act 1" in 2019, this third exhibition on the same theme will be ASANO's first solo exhibition at gallery UG OsakaUmeda.
We hope you will enjoy this nostalgic and amusing Animal Playhouse, which incorporates the anthropomorphic animal culture that has been enjoyed in Japan since ancient times.
gallery UG
"I express visions inspired by ordinary daily life, where animals happily coexist and warm feelings of nostalgia prevail. I hope viewers will cherish their imagination, which is often overlooked in today's fast-paced world, and the time they spend relaxing. Through my work, I encourage them to freely imagine the stories that lie beyond the artwork."
"Connecting artworks to people, connecting people to each other through art."
galleryUG are always there for our artists.
We will grow together with the artists and support them from production to promotion.
We aim to further enrich and expand the contemporary art scene by proposing the ideal way for galleries to be.
In moments when I feel like I’m in a place independent of my surroundings,
I sometimes feel like I’m in a different time and space.
The feeling is like clouds or smoke that change shape with no regard for time
that people have to live by, and it also feels like a space of my own.
To turn, various scenes that came up in my imagination from things I encountered.
To express freedom, time and desires that are on the verge of being discarded from memory.
That is what is important, in order for me to be me and for a person to be them self.
The motifs chosen by Nami OKADA for her artwork are places she has visited personally. Her artwork arouses feelings of déjà vu and of reaching across time in viewers, whose backgrounds all differ.
Each person forms a distinct impression of a given building or piece of scenery due to the differences in their memories and experiences. Such spaces thus possess a multitude of forms.
It is only when there is commonality in the interpretations of multiple viewers that a given piece of scenery takes on certain meaning.
OKADA brings life to One View by exploring the relationship between pieces of scenery that have taken on meaning due to the overlapping of such commonalities and pieces of scenery whose meaning has yet to take shape.
2F TERRADA ART COMPLEX Ⅱ, 1-32-8, Higashishinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
8 minutes walk from Tennozu Isle Station on the Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Rinkai Line(Exit B)
11 minutes walk from Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport Line Tennozu Isle Station(Central Exit)
11F Daimaru Umeda Department Store
3-1-1, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka
From JR Osaka Station from 1-minute walk/JR Kita-Shinchi Station a 6-minute walk
From Midosuji Line Umeda Station from 2-minute walk/Tanimachi Line Higashi-Umeda Station from 8-minute walk/Yotsubashi Line Nishi-Umeda Station a 4-minute walk
From Hankyu Umeda Station from 13-minute walk/Hanshin Umeda Station a 12-minute walk
This is a production studio for exclusive artists of gallery UG, which will open in 2020. It was built to approach and support artists from a long-term perspective.