September 2 - October 8, 2017

Opening reception:

Saturday, September 2, 2017 18:00 - 20:00

URANO is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of Toshiyuki Konishi, "Memory of Herds" which will be on view from September 2nd to October 8th.

Konishi draws group portraits based on photographs of his family, his childhood and people close to him. Depicted in a highly stylized form with bold brushstrokes, his subjects in a vivid and profound color background appear rather anonymous individuals. Being ripped off key physical features that suggest race, gender and age, their bodies and faces are symbolic and have multi-angle perspectives. On the other hand, the carefully planned composition of those figures delivers a sense of tension or intimacy among those characters huddling together in space.

This year, Konishi presented a new installation piece at the ongoing "Yokohama Triennale 2017 Islands, Constellations & Galapagos". He had major solo exhibitions "Our Traits" at Aike Dellarco in Shaghai (2017) and "Conversation_Piece: Toshiyuki Konishi +AHA!" at Kijijoji Art Museum, Tokyo (2016). His works have been exhibited also in group exhibitions including "Collection 2 Diary" at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan (2017), "Discoveries sector" at Art Basel Hong Kong (2014), "Nostalgia and Fantasy: Imagination and Its Origins" in Contemporary Art at the Nat ional Museum of Art, Osaka (2014), "The Way of Painting" at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (2014). In 2016, Konish was selected as a finalist of Prudential Eye Awards and exhibited at ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Konishi says his idea continuously evolves with new approaches to painting over years of practice.

Memory of Herds

Human is essentially interested only in human beings.

whether a term "herd" is suitable or not,

if we assume that we are the same kind of a transient group,

we start to recall our herd instinct.

or we start to paint it.

Our memory of herds in a canvas.

‒ A quote from the dairy of Toshiyuki Konishi

When humans were hunter-gathers, herd referred to a small group of individuals related by blood. Today the term is more likely to associate with a much larger unity known as "society" a group of individuals who share a community of interests. We began to oscillate between the society and family, falling into the illusion that contributing to "the herd" is fundamentally more valuable than to family.

Subjects in Konishi's group portraits remain anonymous, while the sense of anonymity leaves viewers a space to recall their family portraits in memory. It is perhaps the result of the constant interplay between image and imagination.

His works is considered as portrait, but the complex layers of paints that were spontaneously smashed and smeared shows their unlimited possibilities and wild nature. Today when "herd" and "family" are separated and even conflicted to each other, Konishi's work attempts to bring back the original idea of herd by integrating the two values into one. In this exhibition, ten new artworks will be presented.