Yutaka Kikutake Gallery Roppongi will hold a two-person show featuring Akio Niisato and Seiichiro Osa from Saturday, September 13 to Saturday, October 18. Niisato has earned critical acclaim for his Luminescent Vessels series, a body of work characterized by perforated holes and delicate light effects, while Osa has, in recent years, expanded his expressive range through compositions of simple sections of color. For this exhibition, the two artists attempt to create a resonant space of mutual influence through new work that traverses the disparate disciplines of ceramics and painting while remaining focused on a common theme of color.

In his exploration into the relationship between ceramics and light, Niisato has developed his practice by moving back and forth between craft and a pursuit of freer forms. The unique appeal of Niisato’s work can be seen in his attempt to incorporate the unavoidable cracks and imperfections of the firing process, his adoption of exhibition formats where the work hangs from the ceiling, and in the extraordinarily delicate perforation technique found in his Luminescent Vessels series, in short, an aesthetic approach that seeks balance between refinement and incompleteness. In addition to new pieces made specifically for this exhibition, Niisato has taken on the challenge of creating compositions based on colors produced through adjustments in glaze and clay formulas. The result is a body of work that marks a new frontier for Niisato, a conception of still life compositions created through the medium of ceramics. It is informed by two perspectives: one rooted in the world of traditional ceramics, the other seeking the possibilities found in contemporary, unrestricted modes of expression. Given this focus, it’s no wonder that Morandi, an Italian painter active in the 20th century, was mentioned in conversations between Niisato and Osa for this show.

Similarly, Osa’s paintings can be characterized by their investigation into abstract expression through discreet fields of color. This exhibition features three paintings entitled Empty Landscape, each with the subtitle of Morning, Noon, or Night. The artist creates these paintings through a series of routine actions: masking off a divided canvas surface, and then applying paint within the exposed frame. Repeated application and removal of the tape affects its adhesion, resulting in areas where the paint arbitrarily bleeds and spills over into the adjacent frame and imparts a subtle sense of movement to the geometric composition of the painting. The regularity at the heart of Osa’s practice, and the harmony between arbitrariness and chance that emerges on the surface of his canvases, surely plays a role in his affinity and respect for Morandi’s still lifes. Light is a defining characteristic of the different times of day referenced in Osa’s work, and it is also a thematic focus of Niisato’s Luminescent Vessels series. In this sense, color and light are keywords to understanding the resonance and response that occurs between Niisato’s compositions and Osa’s three color field paintings that express different times in a single day.

This exhibition marks the first collaboration between Akio Niisato and Seiichiro Osa, an intersection of ceramics and painting, two seemingly disparate fields, that sheds light on unexpected points of similarity and consideration. Viewers will find that the compositions of color and light presented in these heterogenous mediums seem to resonate in the exhibition space and imbue it with a sense of tranquil dynamism. Through a constant pursuit of new material approaches, Niisato and Osa continue to explore the depths of expression in their respective practices. We invite you to come and experience this compelling interplay for yourself.