SOM GALLERY is pleased to announce the group exhibition by 1998 "DOOMs" at BakuroYokoyama.

"1998" is a leaderless collective composed of artists born in 1998, who, amidst a pessimistic view of a society becoming increasingly stagnant, entrust their unshakeable yearnings to expression

At the exhibition for the first time in a year, they share diverse thoughts and senses through space, and question the sense of "ourselves" that has been lost through various relationships such as conflict, tension, and harmony.

Their expressions may not directly offer hope and light to those of us living in the trapped modern society.
It is perhaps a feeling like prayer for the ignorant optimists who cannot imagine outside the present society as a fortress.
No one knows what answers await them at the singularity of the exhibition venue, where expressions intersect.
They hope that the light of a new world will shine on each and every one of them in the place where the doom bells ring.

We would like to conclude by introducing their words for this exhibition.

The title of this exhibition, "DOOM," refers to catastrophe, apocalypse, and fate.It is the dooms of this world filled with hardship.
In an exhibition space, the perspectives of diverse artists converge towards the apocalypse, eventually emerging as a new beginning.
We are all currently experiencing self-repression and alienation as functional components within this society or larger system.
Within this relentless paradox of sacrificing emotions for the sake of freedom and self-fulfillment, my existence is in a perpetual state of convulsion and tension, lacking a place of reprieve.

However where exactly does the evil that has spawned this misery reside?Could it be that I don't really understand why things have ended up like this?How deeply can we truly sense others and their connections?
Isn't it possible that we aren't truly connected?
Could it be that, not knowing the bonds of connection, I go unrecognized for my deficiency in only being able to engage with the world as a tool.
And isn't it our own choices that create this difficulty in living?

The DOOMs does not imply the negation of capitalism.
It also does not imply a negation of the dominion of advanced technology.
We long for the demise of the self, the creator of this unbearable, frigid world's vicious cycle.

The DOOMs of this world is, in essence, the end of our own selves thus far.
The awareness of the void within myself and the act of sharing it represent both a journey towards the apocalypse and the dawn of a new world.

In this world without an exit, we still cast our gaze outward.
From the gentle, hazy everyday, we hurl ourselves into the depths of the doom.
Perhaps the ideal version of ourselves does not reside there.
Yet, we must succumb now.
In that place where we peel back the cold, hardened skin of the world.

Aug. 2023 ”1998”