Akihiro Hasegawa Solo Exhibition, Yomogi & COMP

Dates｜           June 25 (Sat) to August 6 (Sat), 2022
＊Partial exhibition changeover scheduled to occur during the exhibition period.
＊Closed on Sundays and Mondays
Admission｜ Free
Organizer｜  √K Contemporary

 

√K Contemporary (Root K Contemporary, Tokyo) is proud to present current Tokyo University of the Arts Master’s student and emerging artist, Akihiro Hasegawa’s inaugural solo exhibition, Yomogi & COMP.

 

Spanning two floors, from the basement to the 1st floor of the gallery, the exhibition will introduce various works drawn from personal experiences, from a series formed by Hasegawa’s encounters with faith, to portraits that address ideas of human existence.

 

Born into a family-run Tendai sect temple, Hasegawa underwent training in Mt. Hiei. Shaped by these unique attitudes towards life, death, and humanity’s very existence, Hasegawa’s works take a wide-angled approach to the nature and existence of emotions, thoughts, matter, and life, and offer a glimpse of the artist’s unique perspectives gained through his experience with the Buddhist priesthood. Set to be on exhibit, Repentance, Raigō, Prayer, or the Horizon (2022, previously exhibited at KUMA Exhibition 2022) presents chimeric, distorted figures reminiscent of Buddhist priests in vibrant hues. Painted recto-verso on acrylic board, the work sublimates, both, the gap and connection between this world and the next. On the other hand, the “life” these figures depict illustrates the expectations humanity holds in the face of its bilateral nature, life’s strength and danger, and the relativity of existence.

 

As an increasingly digitalized, “conceptual” society of the present succeeds its feudalistic, “materialist” past, the prophetic nature of Hasegawa’s work, in many ways, offers a vision that urges viewers to reconsider their view of the future.

 

 

On the Exhibition Title, Yomogi & COMP

There is a complete meal supplement called COMP. Apparently, you can survive off just eating that.
On the other hand, there is yomogi [1].
Although Yomogi grows just about everywhere, we don’t really eat it. It’s probably just about yomogi rice cakes that we’d eat.
Frankly, you wouldn’t eat it for its nutritional value, but more for its flavoring and coloring of rice cakes.
In other words, COMP is consumed for the purpose of “nourishment”, while yomogi is eaten for its “aesthetic and flavor”.
I believe the ways in which we look and behave in the world, very much resemble these two ideas.
I see COMP as understanding, while yomogi as “zatsumi” (miscellaneous,　unnecessary flavors) and “nebulous”.
I believe feelings of “realization” and “contentment” occur when these two concepts overlap.
We, humans, live to feel content.

These are the eyes with which I view art.

 

＊“Yomogi & COMP” is a concept my friend, Takatoshi Yoshida, and I came up with.

 

Akihiro Hasegawa

Footnotes

[1] Also known as Japanese mugwort, Korean wormwood, Korean mugwort, or first wormwood. Its scientific name is Artemisia princeps.

 

 

【Special Events】

From gallery talks featuring special guests, to live painting and sutra chanting sessions, a variety of experimental special events will be held during the exhibition.

Stay tuned!

 

 

※Depending on the state of COVID-19, business days and hours are subject to change.
Please check updates on the √K Contemporary website, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter periodically for updates.

 

IMAGES

  • Repentance, Raigō, Prayer, or the Horizon (2022)

  • Untitled (2020)

  • Untitled (2022)

  • Untitled (2022)

  • Untitled (2021)

  • Untitled (2022)

ARTISTS

Akihiro Hasegawa

Akihiro Hasegawa (b. 1997, Mie Prefecture, Japan) is a contemporary artist based in Tokyo, Japan. A successor to a family-run temple, Hasegawa entered the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei at 10 years old. By 19 years old, he enrolled in the Tokyo University of the Arts, the most prestigious art school in Japan, which, considering its notoriously low acceptance rate, is a rare and striking accomplishment. In 2019, he completed the Buddhist Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) and, in the following year, began his master’s degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His works mainly depict human figures. Eclectic and elaborate, they traverse a range of styles, from Byzantinesque oil pastel drawings to realistic portraits and experimental multilayered acrylic plate paintings. Overarching themes of his works include Buddhist imagery, ideas regarding the existence and potential of space and time in painting, and an inherent curiosity and affinity for human subjects. Hasegawa is an ALT Project creative director and a recipient of the distinguished Kuma Foundation grant.

 

1997: Born in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture
2007: Enters the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei
2016: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, BFA Department of Design
2019: Completes Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) at Saikyo-ji Temple, Mt. Hiei (the general headquarters of the Tendai Shinsei sect)
2020: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, MFA Department of Design, Planning Theory Research Institute

・KUMA EXHIBITION 2022 Interview (2022/04/21) *Japanese only

Akihiro Hasegawa

Akihiro Hasegawa (b. 1997, Mie Prefecture, Japan) is a contemporary artist based in Tokyo, Japan. A successor to a family-run temple, Hasegawa entered the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei at 10 years old. By 19 years old, he enrolled in the Tokyo University of the Arts, the most prestigious art school in Japan, which, considering its notoriously low acceptance rate, is a rare and striking accomplishment. In 2019, he completed the Buddhist Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) and, in the following year, began his master’s degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His works mainly depict human figures. Eclectic and elaborate, they traverse a range of styles, from Byzantinesque oil pastel drawings to realistic portraits and experimental multilayered acrylic plate paintings. Overarching themes of his works include Buddhist imagery, ideas regarding the existence and potential of space and time in painting, and an inherent curiosity and affinity for human subjects. Hasegawa is an ALT Project creative director and a recipient of the distinguished Kuma Foundation grant.

 

1997: Born in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture
2007: Enters the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei
2016: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, BFA Department of Design
2019: Completes Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) at Saikyo-ji Temple, Mt. Hiei (the general headquarters of the Tendai Shinsei sect)
2020: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, MFA Department of Design, Planning Theory Research Institute

・KUMA EXHIBITION 2022 Interview (2022/04/21) *Japanese only

EVENT

UPCOMINGEXHIBITIONS

Akihiro Hasegawa

Akihiro Hasegawa (b. 1997, Mie Prefecture, Japan) is a contemporary artist based in Tokyo, Japan. A successor to a family-run temple, Hasegawa entered the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei at 10 years old. By 19 years old, he enrolled in the Tokyo University of the Arts, the most prestigious art school in Japan, which, considering its notoriously low acceptance rate, is a rare and striking accomplishment. In 2019, he completed the Buddhist Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) and, in the following year, began his master’s degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His works mainly depict human figures. Eclectic and elaborate, they traverse a range of styles, from Byzantinesque oil pastel drawings to realistic portraits and experimental multilayered acrylic plate paintings. Overarching themes of his works include Buddhist imagery, ideas regarding the existence and potential of space and time in painting, and an inherent curiosity and affinity for human subjects. Hasegawa is an ALT Project creative director and a recipient of the distinguished Kuma Foundation grant.

 

1997: Born in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture
2007: Enters the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei
2016: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, BFA Department of Design
2019: Completes Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) at Saikyo-ji Temple, Mt. Hiei (the general headquarters of the Tendai Shinsei sect)
2020: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, MFA Department of Design, Planning Theory Research Institute

・KUMA EXHIBITION 2022 Interview (2022/04/21) *Japanese only

Akihiro Hasegawa

Akihiro Hasegawa (b. 1997, Mie Prefecture, Japan) is a contemporary artist based in Tokyo, Japan. A successor to a family-run temple, Hasegawa entered the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei at 10 years old. By 19 years old, he enrolled in the Tokyo University of the Arts, the most prestigious art school in Japan, which, considering its notoriously low acceptance rate, is a rare and striking accomplishment. In 2019, he completed the Buddhist Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) and, in the following year, began his master’s degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His works mainly depict human figures. Eclectic and elaborate, they traverse a range of styles, from Byzantinesque oil pastel drawings to realistic portraits and experimental multilayered acrylic plate paintings. Overarching themes of his works include Buddhist imagery, ideas regarding the existence and potential of space and time in painting, and an inherent curiosity and affinity for human subjects. Hasegawa is an ALT Project creative director and a recipient of the distinguished Kuma Foundation grant.

 

1997: Born in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture
2007: Enters the Buddhist priesthood at Saikyo Temple, Mt. Hiei
2016: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, BFA Department of Design
2019: Completes Shidokegyo (Four Preliminary Practices) at Saikyo-ji Temple, Mt. Hiei (the general headquarters of the Tendai Shinsei sect)
2020: Enters the Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, MFA Department of Design, Planning Theory Research Institute

・KUMA EXHIBITION 2022 Interview (2022/04/21) *Japanese only

［Solo Exhibitions］

2022　　Akihiro Hasegawa Solo Exhibition, Yomogi & COMP, √K Contemporary (Tokyo)

［Group Exhibitions］

［Group Exhibitions］
2017　　SICF18 (18th Spiral Independent Creators Festival) Spiral Hall, Spiral Garden, MINA-TO (Tokyo)
2018　　Wada Akiko ART HOBBY EXPO, Seibu Shibuya (Tokyo)
2018　　Heisei no Okimiyage ~ Heisei Umare no Watashitachi Ga Kono Jidai ni Nokoshitaimono, 100creators (Tokyo)
2019　　SHIBUYA STYLE vol.13, Seibu Shibuya (Tokyo)
2019　　Muroto Shizen no Ie, National MUROTO Youth Outdoor Learning Center (Kochi)
2020　　DEPARTURE 2020, Tokyo University of the Arts Design Department, Daikanyama Tsutaya Books (Tokyo)
2021　　Ima Koko de Yokuikiru, ALT, MORIO Gallery (Tokyo)
2022　　KUMA EXHIBITION 2022, Kuma Foundation, ANB Tokyo (Tokyo)

 

［Awards & Grants］
2017　　Geidai Art in Marunouchi GAM Award Winner
2021　　Kuma Foundation 5th Generation Creators Scholarship Grant

 

［Others］
2017　　Art Institute Marunochi 2017,  Tokyo University of the Arts, Mitsubishi Estate (Tokyo)　Live Painting
2018　　NTT DOCOMO, Inc Promotional Event “dusty car” (Tokyo) Project Co-Ordination
2018　　Marunouchi 15-chome Project (Tokyo) Live Painting
2018　　Art Institute Marunochi 2018,  Tokyo University of the Arts, Mitsubishi Estate (Tokyo) Live Painting
2019　　MOV ICHI, Shibuya Hikarie (Tokyo) Live Painting
2019　　Muroto Shizen no Ie, National MUROTO Youth Outdoor Learning Center (Kochi) Live Painting
2019　　Ringo Shiina Music Video, “Niwatori to Hebi to Buta”, “Snake Tank” Art Designer
2021　　Ima Koko de Yokuikiru, ALT, MORIO Gallery (Tokyo) Curation & Exhibition