UPFRONT GALLERY PRESENTS A SOLO
EXHIBITION OF NEW WORKS
ENTITLED
AHOKUSAI 1.2.3.
BY
ICHIRO IRIE
"Dragon" by Ichiro Irie
80 x 30 inches
screws and acrylic paint on door panel
Copyright © 2008 Ichiro Irie. All rights reserved.
Click HERE for enlargment. |
DATES: JULY 26 THRU AUGUST 31, 2008
RECEPTION: SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2008, 6:00- 9:00 pm
Ichiro Irie continues his exploration of everyday materials in his solo exhibition titled "Ahokusai 1. 2 .3." at the Upfront Gallery. His exhibition tributes the master Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, 1760-1849. Hokusai had a long career, but he produced most of his important work after the age of 60. Hokusai's art permeates current popular culture on many levels.
In the Japanese language, "ahokusai" means silly and stupid. Irie chose this word for the title of his solo exhibition to reference the mechanical process he uses to reinterpret Hokusaišs work. Irie's use of the term "ahokusai" suggests the dim and superficial, but surprisingly entertaining aspects of popular culture. Iriešs new works are at once beautiful and delightfully flippant. He toys with his audience using utilitarian objects to reinvent the skillfully executed works of the Japanese master. Unaware of the Japanese master's techniques does not discourage Irie's interpretation, but rather inspires Irie's street knack for 21st century hip culture attraction to Hokusai's aesthetic.
Irie employs drywall screws drilled into door panels to produce new inventions of Hokusai's timeless art. The similarity of the printmaking technology used by Hokusai, which ultimately disseminated his art around the globe and the globally mass produced objects Irie employs to appropriate Hokusai images, curiously parallel each other.
Irie was born in Tokyo in 1969, and lives and works in Santa Monica, CA. He received his B.A. at UCSB and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University. He was a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Mexico City in 2001. Since 2001, he has exhibited at numerous venues including the Carrillo Gil Museum in Mexico City, the CSW Museum Warsaw, Upfront Gallery in Ventura, and the Bank Gallery, Los Angeles.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. Upfront Gallery is an alternative contemporary art gallery exhibiting emerging and established California artists. The gallery is located near downtown Ventura at 267 S. Laurel Street, between Front Street and E. Thompson Blvd. For more information, call (805)340-1448 or visit our website at www.upfrontgallery.org.
Gallery Hours: 12- 5pm Saturdays and by appointment.
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