SOM GALLERY is delighted to announce "Phantactal”, a solo exhibition by Takahiko Yanagisawa on view from January 10 to February 2. This exhibition will be Yanagisawa's first solo show in about three years. In addition to the oil paintings, it will also feature ceramics that he began creating last year.

Yanagisawa creates works that reconsider the nature of the complex world through landscape photography, images found on the internet, and collage paintings or three-dimensional works that layer multiple images. The works he creates are characterized by motifs that evoke wormholes, blood vessels within the body, and underground pipes, with the movement between layers on the canvas serving to connect different spaces and dimensions. These motifs transcend their functional role as mere shapes and instead function as symbols that connect "entrances" and "exits," "inside" and "outside," and "here" and "there," thereby questioning the boundaries themselves. This exploration is composed of multiple traditions and perspectives in art history. For example, Cubism sought to transcend a single viewpoint by deconstructing objects into geometric forms and reconstructing them to depict the multiplicity of time and space from multiple angles. Similarly, in Yanagisawa's work, different spaces and scales are layered on the canvas, expressing both continuity and rupture of perspective simultaneously. This process of "fragmentation and connection" resonates with contemporary visual experiences. In the digital age, we are, whether willingly or not, bombarded with fragmented information and images, which we then connect and reconstruct in relation to our own experiences and judgments. In his works, viewers will similarly navigate between layers and motifs in search of meaning.

Moreover, these motifs lead to questions about boundaries and their ambiguity. A boundary not only signifies division but also functions as a medium that connects different realms. For example, blood vessels within the body and underground pipelines are essential to the keeping of life and cities, yet their presence often goes unnoticed. They are passages that traverse unseen realms, connecting the "inside" and "outside" of our lives. Just as Surrealism sought to connect different dimensions through dreams and the unconscious, the pipe-like motifs in Yanagisawa's works also function as symbolic "passages" that link reality with fiction, past with future. Through these explorations, Yanagisawa reconsiders the concept of boundaries, focusing on their ambiguity and multiplicity. These boundaries not only connect different spaces and dimensions, but also prompt reflection on how we divide and simultaneously reconnect reality.

Takahiko Yanagisawa was born in 1987 in Kanagawa. He graduated from Kuwasawa Design School in 2015. After that, he continued to create and exhibit his works in Tokyo. Major solo exhibitions include “INSIDE AND OUT” at Studio 35 Minutes (Tokyo, 2022), “BLUCA” at Kinkan Gallery (Tokyo, 2018). Major group exhibitions include “INTERVERSE” at SOM GALLERY (Tokyo, 2023), "FACE 2023”at Sompo Museum of Art (Tokyo, 2023) and　"Looking for the 4th Dimension ‒ with works of Salvador Dali and　Contemporary Art” at Morohashi Museum of Modern Art (Fukushima, 2019).