The exhibition title, Elephant in the Room, refers to a glaring issue that everyone notices but chooses to ignore-as if pretending it doesn't exist.
This exhibition presents several works that contrast beasts (or beast-like, overpowering forces-like flames) with humans.
In All Adults Are Liars, a group of people is shown watching a video, learning how to hunt a giant serpent.
In Lonely Beast, we see a creature bound tightly with rope, while a group of people sits nearby eating fruit, casually watching it. On the left side of the canvas, a person holds an iron rod-what will they do next?
In recent years, bears-animals that should be living deep in the mountains-have been appearing more frequently in human settlements.
Seen as intruders, these bears are often shot, dismembered, and eventually turned into meat.
If humans see bears as intruders, then from the bears' perspective, aren't we the ones invading their world?
One reason the bears come down from the mountains is because humans have invaded their habitat.
In the conflict between humans and nature, the arrogance has always belonged to humans.
And that same arrogance exists even in the smallest of relationships-between "me" and "you."
The one who is "me" is arrogant. So is the one who is "you."
People cannot become one-we move closer, fall apart, gather again, then drift away once more.
Perhaps this cycle is bound to repeat itself.
Yet in these encounters, there are moments-brief and luminous-that occasionally appear.
It is for those moments that we carry on, choosing to overlook each other's arrogance, day after day.
We must become better than who we are now.
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Mayuko Ose (b. 1996)
Japanese artist Mayuko Ose explores contemporary interpretations of Nihonga (Japanese painting), deeply influenced by Japan's post-war underground culture and pop aesthetics. Graduating from Tama Art University in 2018, Ose draws inspiration from prominent graphic designers Tadanori Yokoo and Kiyoshi Awazu, known for their vivid, saturated visual compositions. Her work merges graphic design sensibilities with traditional Japanese painting techniques, creating striking visual narratives filled with vibrant colors and shadowy human silhouettes.
Recurring motifs of silhouetted figures evoke ambiguous and enigmatic memories, suspended between reality and illusion, inviting viewers to explore subconscious landscapes and psychological spaces within her canvases. Her contemporary painting practice thoughtfully addresses the complexities of time, interpersonal relationships, and collective memory.
Key solo exhibitions include Teaching The Shape of The Moon, YIRI ARTS, Taipei (2023); Tashikana Maboroshi, Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Art Salon, Tokyo (2022); project N 81, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo (2021); Vacuum Life, Institut Français, Tokyo (2019). Notable group exhibitions include Wish, Almine Rech (2023); FREE COLORS, Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo (2022); Flowers of Time, Hongan-ji Dendo-in, Kyoto (2022).