Gallery Collaborations

C19

Host

Taka Ishii Gallery

（Tokyo）

Guest

Mendes Wood DM

（São Paulo）

Taka Ishii Gallery presents works by Graciela Iturbide and Goro Kakei. Graciela Iturbide (1942-) was drawn to still photography as practiced by the Mexican modernist master Manuel Alvarez Bravo. Iturbide traveled widely across Latin America, Cuba, and Panama, and began to reveal a clear preference for the theatrical atmosphere of popular Mexican festivals. Through her works, Iturbide emphasizes the irony of Mexican imagery which represents death and accentuates the surrealistic character of these social rites. Goro Kakei (1931-2021) studied under Yoshi Kinouchi to become a sculptor. After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts with a major in sculpture, he started working with the Shinseisaku Art Society. As well as three-dimensional works, he utilized a wide range of mediums and techniques including oil paintings, drawings, etchings, and lithographs. Kakei’s works show his remarkable free spirit and deep love for human beings and nature in their frequent themes.

Mendes Wood DM is pleased to present an exhibition which traces traditions of painting in Brazil, from the celebrated historical works of Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato (1900-1995, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), to the figurative abstraction of Patricia Leite’s (b. 1955 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil) canvases, to Celso Renato’s paint on wood (1919-1992, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), and Marcos Siqueira’s (b. 1955 in Serra do Cipó, Brazil) locally-sourced pigments. While Lorenzato’s works feature the artist’s characteristic technique of textured paint, Leite layers solemn and playful colors to reveal meaningful forms. Referencing constructivism, Renato works between painting, sculpture, and found materials, while Siqueira, working in the grasslands of eastern Brazil, creates his own paint from the land he walks.

Host

Taka Ishii Gallery

（Tokyo）

Since its opening in 1994, Taka Ishii Gallery has continued to maintain and develop an exhibition program based on the goals of introducing international contemporary artists within Japan and acting as an international platform for emerging Japanese artists as well as contemporary masters. While the gallery aesthetic is rooted in the photographic, the program is contemporary and represented artists work in a variety of media. A yearly exhibition program of eight solo and/or group exhibitions is supplemented by the publication of catalogs and artists' books. In addition to the primary exhibition space at complex665 in Roppongi, amanaTIGP focuses on historical shows of pre and postwar Japanese photography and film. In 2023, branches in Kyoto and Maebashi have opened, developing collaborative projects with artists based in and outside of Japan. The gallery also operates a viewing space in Hong Kong that introduces works of international artists whose practices transcend existing frameworks of contemporary art.

E-mail

tig@takaishiigallery.com

URL

https://www.takaishiigallery.com/en/

Locations

Tokyo: complex665 3F, 6-5-24 Roppongi, Minato-ku

Tokyo: AXIS Bldg. 2F, 5-17-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku

Kyoto: 123 Yada-cho, Shimogyo-ku

Artworks

Roppongi New Space Inaugural Exhibition:“MOVED”, installation view at Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Oct 21 – Nov 19, 2016, photo: Kenji Takahashi

Guest

Mendes Wood DM

（São Paulo）

Mendes Wood DM was founded in Sao Paulo in 2010 to exhibit international and Brazilian artists in a context conducive to critical dialogue and the cross-pollination of ideas. The gallery cultivates a program premised on conceptualism, political resistance, and intellectual rigor. Central to the program is a concern for regional difference and individuation while still fostering cosmopolitanism and collaboration.

In 2017, Mendes Wood DM inaugurated its first European exhibition space in Brussels, founded in partnership with Carolyn Drake Kandiyoti. Located on three floors of a historic townhouse, the gallery lends itself to panoramic curatorial projects and comprehensive monographic exhibitions.

In 2022, Mendes Wood DM opened an exhibition space in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. The expansion is a natural evolution of the gallery’s presence in North America, emphasizing a meaningful conversation with the Global South and affirming the gallery’s commitment to mounting significant exhibitions for a wider audience. Mendes Wood DM is pleased to announce our first gallery in Paris, opening this autumn. The exhibition space will be situated on the first two levels of the Hotel de l’Escalopier in the Place des Vosges in the Marais. This new step is a reflection of a longtime dream to create a space of artistic exchange in a city that both nourishes and inspires Mendes Wood DM.

E-mail

info@mendeswooddm.com

URL

https://mendeswooddm.com/en

Locations