Akira Yoshida solo exhibition

'INU HARIKO [Atomic Cloud]' 2011 Fiberglass-reinforced plastic, Urethane paint, Coloring with airbrush H93xW88xD42cm　©Akira Yoshida

On November 11, 2011, YUKARI ART CONTEMPORARY will be renewed as "YUKARI ART". On the occasion of the 4th year anniversary of gallery opening and the 6th year anniversary of "yukari-art,Inc." the predecessor to YUKARI ART, we aim to be simple to survive in this dynamic era.

We are pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Akira YOSHIDA as YUKARI ART's renewal special exhibition. The show will open on November 26, 2011 at our gallery’s space in Meguro, Tokyo.
Akira Yoshida creates sculptures mainly out of fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) painted with an airbrush that serve as ironical takes on the contradictions and problems of contemporary society. His pieces seem at first glance to be friendly and embrace a Pop aesthetic, but are in fact infused with irony. This very strong contrast between their outer appearances and concepts is one of the most charming features of his works.

For this exhibition, he will exhibit works from two series, 'INU HARIKO' and 'Education in good taste series'(wooden toys), that are in a motif of pretty children's toys but reflect current Japanese situations critically.

'INU HARIKO' series is one of the most popular series of Yoshida and two pieces of the series are permanently exhibited at the City One Station(第一城) of MTR, the biggest railway company in Hong Kong. Even though this is a series that has already finished successfully, a new INU HARIKO has been created after the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami under a new meaning founded by Yoshida when he was looking through the Japanese situation after the disaster. This work not only criticizes Japan as 'an obedient dog' or 'Hariko with an empty inside' including a relationship between Japan and America, but also through having paints of atomic cloud, radiated spreading lines and a skeleton with western gold powder on its surface at the same time.

'Education in good taste series Rocking horse' expresses the instability of peace we have and circumstances of peace, consisting of war weapons as a swing rocking horse and Hiroshima's atomic bomb. Although this was created before the Tohoku earthquake, ironically, it seems that reality finally caught up with Yoshida's art world.

Yoshida says, he has a critical view on the infantilism of present Japanese society, and expressed it on 'INU HARIKO' and wooden toys exhibited in this exhibition. However, despite the theme dealt with, ''working hard to achieve beautifully finished forms as much as possible'' is the artist's characteristic and his paints lacquered with an airbrush on works' surfaces are so good that they even look like as if they are printed. Although an unstable political situation still keeps going lately not only domestically but also internationally, the beautiful finish of his works even under a heavy theme makes us feel as if it is a ray of hope beyond this turbulent era. About 10 works will be exhibited.

We would be very grateful if you could introduce this exhibition through your media.