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Tag Archives: Tomoo Gokita

Showing: Tomoo Gokita – ‘Untitled’ @ Massimo De Carlo (London)

Over the last month, Massimo De Carlo Gallery has been hosting Tomoo Gokita‘s first London exhibition. In Gokita’s post-conceptual paintings, meaning is not so much ambiguous as it is deliberately absent. The focus is entirely on the aesthetic form and the only thing that matters is the acrylic gouache which clings to the surface of the canvas. The brushwork, which ranges from velvety soft to richly expressive, creates works which are arresting on a purely visual level. The trademark use of monochrome throughout his practice purposefully harnesses the […]

Opening: Tomoo Gokita @ Blum & Poe

Over the weekend, Tomoo Gokita took a step forward to the next stage of his career with his first showing at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles. Created entirely on square canvases, the new body of work continues the Japanese artist’s practice of working in monochrome, creating portraits that take their cue from pop culture or art history. As we have come to expect, Gokita masterfully renders his subjects with varying shades of black, white, and gray, in an alternatively realistic and abstract technique, oftentimes with the faces […]

Openings: Tomoo Gokita – “Peekaboo” @ Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery

Last night, the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery presented a comprehensive new show from Tomoo Gokita entitled Peekabo. Featuring various-sized pieces made since 2000 as well as 10 all new paintings, the exhibition provided a nice overview of the Japanese artist’s recent work including surreal paintings with oftentimes obscured faces, some family-style portraits, as well as a large-scale installation, which incorporates over 800 small drawings. Oftentimes created thru referencing a collaged assortment of found images, the pieces feature his signature monochromatic palette, a mastery of various gradients and […]

Inside The Home Of Brian “KAWS” Donnelly

It’s always interesting to take a peek into the home of one of your favorite artists (also see the Rydens and Shepard Fairey), especially if they are collectors themselves. Architectural Digest recently stopped by the home of Brian Donnelly, better know as KAWS, and his wife and artist Julia Chiang to give us an intriguing look at their Brooklyn abode. The converted triangle-shaped industrial building features both living space as well as administrative offices and art storage, something Donnelly certainly needs judging by his art collection. Just from […]

Upcoming: Tomoo Gokita – “Holy Cow” @ Taka Ishii Gallery

On March 18th, Tomoo Gokita will be back at Tokyo’s Taka Ishii Gallery for his third solo that will include 15 new paintings. Holy Cow will be a chance for the artist to show how his work progressed in the last 5 years since his last show with the gallery. Inspired by old printed matter and photographs from American professional wrestling and Mexican pornography magazines of the 1960s and 1970s, Gokita’s visual language can be characterized as the collaged reconstruction of found images. This particular exhibition will […]

Previews: Tomoo Gokita – “Out Of Sight” @ Mary Boone Gallery, Chelsea

Mary Boone Gallery in New York will be opening Out Of Sight, a solo by Tomoo Gokita (featured) on the 10th of September. For his second showing with the Chelsea gallery, the Tokyo-based artist painted a new body of work consisting of mostly large canvases. Staying true to his recognizable visual language, Gokita’s portraits are done exclusively in black & white and countless shades of gray. Inspired by retro films and photographs, they depict a fictional world of gangsters, starlets, movie stars and ordinary people. Using different ways to […]

Studio Visits: Tomoo Gokita

Only few weeks before opening his second solo show with Mary Boone Gallery in New York, Tomoo Gokita gave us a peek inside his Tokyo studio. Among all the new artworks ready to be shipped to the US, we were able to enjoy this stimulating place and all the various bits from which the Japanese artist is getting his inspiration. Out Of Sight will be Gokita’s second show with the gallery since his 2014 show (covered). For this exhibition he prepared a whole new series of monochromatic paintings that evoke a fictional world of vintage starlets […]

Openings: Tomoo Gokita – “On Paper” @ Bill Brady Gallery / Johnson Trading Gallery

On March 4th, Johnson Trading Gallery in NYC hosted a Bill Brady event – a pop up show by Tomoo Gokita. Coinciding with Armory Week, the show titled On Paper includes smaller works on paper by the renowned Japanese artist. The 12 pieces in the show are all figurative black and white pieces based on vintage portrait images, similar to the ones he presented with the gallery in Miami last December (covered). Using exclusively monochrome colors, Gokita’s works have a strong vintage feel which is further emphasized by the traditional […]

Basel Week Miami ’15 / Openings: Tomoo Gokita – “Damage Control” @ Bill Brady Gallery

Fresh out of the gates for Basel Week Miami is a showing from Tomoo Gokita with acrylic and gouache on canvas paintings at Bill Brady Gallery’s new permanent space in the Little River District. The new body of work, titled Damage Control, took portraiture painting to another level with works based on vintage portraits of Hollywood divas, movie stills, found photos and postcards. Created with soft gradients, solid black, or even unpainted white space, the Japanese artist’s characters are mostly faceless, giving only subtle suggestions of their basic features. While mysterious and almost haunting […]

Upcoming: “Shared Space : KAWS, Karl Wirsun, Tomoo Gokita” @ Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane

Coming up on September 9th, the Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane will be hosting Shared Space : KAWS, Karl Wirsun, Tomoo Gokita. The artists involved are obvious from the title, but the interesting arrangement will see 17 works from KAWS on display, but also seen will be pieces from his personal collection – 26 works by Karl Wirsum including drawings, paintings, and sculptures from 1968 to 2011, as well as 9 faceless portraits and one sculpture by Tomoo Gokita. KAWS states – “I think of collecting like building […]