Online promo for Cafe Absinthe, with photos featuring my paintings in the background (Urban Scrawl – December 2009).

There are some new Urban Scrawls up at Banco.  5 in total, on show until the end of February.  Come down to Ame-Mura and check them out over a cup of Osaka’s best coffee!

(click image to jump to gallery)

Check it out this week.  There are some great artists participating.

http://transart2010.blogspot.com/

Here are some photos from the exhibition and Kotaro Hatch’s performance.  (click image to jump to gallery)

Here is my piece (click either image to jump to gallery).

“Historically, a Black Madonna or Black Virgin is an iconic painting of Mary, usually from the medieval period in Europe, in which she is depicted with dark skin.  In this specific sense, Black Madonna does not refer to African representations; the dark coloration is generally attributed to the dark nature of the wood used or darkening over time by candle soot.

“Black Madonna” is the next installment (following “The Deposition”) in a series titled “In Nomine Dei” investigating the idolization of anachronistic religious iconography, symbology, script, and language in the contemporary world.  Inspired by Caravaggio, who in his day dared to depict holy figures as common folk (using “real” people – paupers, beggars, and prostitutes, most commonly – as his models, rather than idealizing), Krzysztof depicts the contemporary equivalent, using images of “real” people in “real” situations, taken from media sources, as models to depict holy figures and scenes from Judeo-Christian religious mythology otherwise depicted idealistically.”

These are two Japanese Hand Fans made for an exhibition in August at u:ni:pon2kau2.  Included in the gallery are photos of a post-vernissage walk around the neighbourhood in traditional Japanese yukata, carrying the Japanese hand fans.

Click for link to photos from the exhibition and walk-around.

Urban Scrawl at Cafe Absinthe in December 2009.

Here is the flyer:

And here are a few photos from the exhibition at the new Cafe Absinthe:

Transnational Art 2010 is coming up soon!  January 25th to 30th at the Osaka Contemporary Art Centre.

This is a major event.  The last one (2009) was featured in the Asahi Shimbun.

Check out the blog!  (mostly Japanese, some English)

A few photos from the exhibition in September at Elixir.

Special thanks to Guido and Kaori!

A series I’ve been working on recently, exhibited at PAD Vol 1 and PAD VOL 2.

Photos by Atsushi

Solo exhibition at Elixir in September.

A deus ex machina is a plot device in which a person or thing appears “out of the blue” to help a character to overcome a seemingly insolvable difficulty.  In Greek tragedy, from which this convention derives, a crane (mekhane) was used to lower actors playing a god onto the stage.

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デウス・エクス・マキナ (Deus ex machina) とは演出技法の一つであり、ラテン語で「機械仕掛けの神」を意味する、表記は「デウス・エクス・マキーナ（マシーナ）」とも。

もとはギリシア語からのラテン語訳で、古代ギリシアの演劇において、劇の内容が錯綜してもつれた糸のように解決困難な局面に陥った時、いきなり絶対的な力を持つ神が現れ、混乱した状況に解決を下して物語を収束させるという手法を指した。悲劇にしばしば登場し、特に盛期以降の悲劇で多く用いられる。

エクス・マキーナ（機械による）とは、この場面において神を演じる役者がクレーンのような仕掛けで舞台（オルケストラ）上に登場し、このからくりが「機械仕掛け」と呼ばれたことによる。由来は、「機械仕掛けで登場する神」ないし、舞台装置としての解決に導く神そのものが機械仕掛けであることとも解される。日本語で思いがけない展開を指す「どんでん返し」とも発想は類似している。

All of these are group exhibitions, part of some exciting summer events.  Click on the images to link to the websites of the venues/events (most in Japanese).