SOM GALLERY is delighted to announce "Reflection (Times)," a solo exhibition by Ryota Watanabe on view from August 3 to 25. In addition to being Watanabe's first solo exhibition at SOM GALLERY, this will be his first solo show in approximately three years.

In this exhibition, Watanabe will present “Stardust,” a portrait work that he began showing last year, and “Sirius,” in which he uses different shades of brushstrokes, meant to represent his current point of view.

Ryota Watanabe, who completed his master's degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts of Fine Arts in 2023, has been presenting his works based in Tokyo. Watanabe creates his works by performing both the pure act of painting with brush strokes and the destructive act of applying and scraping off paint using a self-made tool ,such as cutter knives, on a single canvas, leaving traces of both actions on the canvas. While he pursues the essence of what painting can be, he also paints portraits and landscapes as reflections of the times. His painting technique follows the existentialism of artists such as Lucian Freud, who exudes the vividness and richness of brushstrokes, and Alberto Giacometti, who stripped away the elements to get to the essence of the work, and then turns to a contemporary approach, challenging the renewal of painting history through cubism.

In the modern age in which we live, the information has become so complicated, altered, and poor that the absolute symbols of the times have collapsed without any reality, and multiple elements have formed individuals, giving birth to their own little stories.

Watanabe creates his paintings as mirrors of this disordered era in which context has become empty and the things that form individuals have taken on diverse facets.

Just as pre-modern paintings contained the traces of authority and the trajectory of the times, it is precisely because we are in a transitional period in which the essence of human existence is wavering that Watanabe inscribes traces with his own hands and traps them within his paintings.

Ryota Watanabe was born in Saitama in 1998. After completing his master's degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts of Fine Arts in 2023, currently based in Tokyo, he makes and shows his works.

Major solo exhibitions include "Horizon" at roid works gallery (Tokyo, 2021), and Major group exhibitions include "DRAW LINES & SHAPES IN MY MAPS" at T&Y GALLERY (Los Angeles, 2024), "DOOMs” at SOM GALLERY (Tokyo, 2023), "SO" at HIRO OKAMOTO (Tokyo, 2023), "Untitled" at SOM GALLERY (Tokyo, 2023) and "1998" at GALLERY ROOM・A (Tokyo, 2022).

This exhibition features 5 new paintings.

An opening reception attended by the artist will be held on Saturday, August 3rd 17:00-19:00 at SOM GALLERY.