Top image: Untitled (Faded gold), 2025, Gold leaf, Urushi, hemp cloth, 2-way tricot, polyethylene foam cord | Kanshitsu-technique, 25 x 19.6 x 18.8 cm, Photo: Takeru Kotoda
2.18 Tue. – 3.9 Sun. 2025
Venue: CADAN YURAKUCHO
Address: 1F Kokusai Building, 3-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Opening hours: Tue-Fri 11-19pm, Sat, Sun, national holidays 11-17pm
Closed: Mon (or the following weekday if the Monday is a public holiday)
Opening reception: 2.18 (Tue) 18:00-20:00
Genta Ishizuka’s devoted pursuit of the possibilities of abstract form evokes an instinctive sense of physicality based on the membrane created by lacquer. Ishizuka gives form to the sap-derived material that resonates with its inherent nature and through the spatial composition of his Taxis series, which gives life to the dynamism intrinsic to the material’s lustrous surface, this exhibition will present a lineup of all new works that showcase his recent developments, which brim with vitality and have grown ever more captivating. We invite you for an evocative encounter with Ishizuka’s singular plastic expression, which captures the primordial beauty that emerges from natural material’s innate textures and phenomena.
Artist Statement
My fascination with the fetishistic texture of lacquer has inspired my artistic production. The ambigious depth and texture of the membrane achieved through the layered processes of applying and polishing lacquer allow me to project emotions and unconsciousness as well as a tactile corporeality through the expression of its nebulous surface.
Lacquer, derived from the sap of trees, cannot hold form on its own due to its liquid nature. It requires a substrate; only after application can its form hold independently. In creating these substrates, I search for forms and expressions that the lacquer seeks to embody. By engaging with the phenomena and fortuity of the lacquer, I try to avoid asserting too much control and instead work within the delicate balance between myself and the material. (Genta Ishizuka)
Genta Ishizuka
Born in Kyoto in 1982, Genta Ishizuka earned a BFA from Kyoto City University of Arts, during which time he participated in an exchange program at the Royal College of Art, London. He graduated with a MFA in Urushi Lacquering from Kyoto City University of Arts in 2008. Selected exhibitions: 2024 “The Future of Artisanal Beauty”, TERRADA ART COMPLEX II BONDED GALLERY, Tokyo, and Kennin-ji Temple, Kyoto / 2024 “LOEWE Lamps”, Palazzo Citterio, Milan / 2023 “Winds and Waves of Lacquer – The Evolution of Urushi Expression (Shippū dogō: genzai wo kakenukeru kyūshitsu hyōgen)”, Wajima Museum of Urushi Art, Ishikawa / 2023 “Visionaries: Making Another Perspective”, Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, Kyoto. Selected awards: Incentive Prize, The 42nd Kyoto Prefectural Culture Prize by Kyoto Prefecture (2024), Grand-prix at LOEWE Craft Prize (2019), and The Best Young Artist Award by City of Kyoto (2019).
Upcoming Exhibitions and Art Fairs Featuring the Artist in 2025 [Genta Ishizuka will be represented by ARTCOURT Gallery at Art Fair Tokyo 2025, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Mar. 7-9], Solo Exhibition [ARTCOURT Gallery, June – July], and more.
70.8 x 53.3 x 48.5 cm、Photo: Takeru Kotoda