Meguru Yamaguchi, “Shadow Pieces”

GR gallery is proud to present Meguru Yamaguchi’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, following a duo show and an art fair project in Miami in 2018. This exhibition in New York, where the artist lives and works, celebrates a one-year ongoing partnership with him, waiting for the next exciting project abroad.

The show will revealed the latest series of artworks, titled “Shadow Pieces”, conceived by Yamaguchi appositely for this occasion. It put together 15 brand new original pieces, always executed with the artist’s signature wood cut out technique, but introducing for the first time new colors and more intrepid material overlapping.

“Shadow Pieces” aims to showcase the unique creative approach of genial artist Meguru Yamaguchi by unveiling his new series of works that is driving his ethereal powerful aesthetic towards new standards. Taking inspiration from ancient Japanese calligraphy and reinventing the traditional abstract expressionism, Meguru wisely adds a bold shot of urban culture and hype, playing with the 3^rddimension and creating a mesmerizing visual effect through a dynamic use of colors and different materials overlap.

Yamaguchi’s artworks are strongly dimensional and are generated by a unique and complicated technique that took many years to be developed. It begins with a single, bold brushstroke on transparent plastic over which the dimensional wood structure is built and, stroke by stroke, the composition takes shape.

For this exhibition, Yamaguchi has modified his signature vocabulary of forms to a more elaborate level showing a proper, and environmentally natural, evolution of his very own aesthetic approach. His energetic gestures and strokes turn into tangible 3-D elements, that not only weave into each other eclipsing its former appearance, but now they also blend with subtler shapes, distinguished by unique color gradients and a gentler texture in what he calls “Shadow Pieces”, an intriguing and unrestricted new series.

Crucial to Yamaguchi’s aesthetics is the notion of visual energy combined with a sense of calm and elegance, which is even more successfully achieved by this new series: the furious vibrancy of his 3-d brushstrokes, as well as the thick texture and dark accumulation of acrylic and epoxy is wisely balanced by lighter nuances and smoother and matte surfaces.

A fine selection of Katsuzo Yamaguchi, Meguru’s dad, latest paintings will complete the exhibition. During his carrier of fashion designer and DJ, under the name of V3YAMA, he has always secretly dedicated his energy also to art making, putting together his experienced craftsmanship, passion for different materials and Sci-fi inspiration in a futuristic style, he gives birth to unique creative composition, rarely revealed before.

Meguru Yamaguchi (Tokyo, 1984). Is much more focused on brushstroke, and he transcends and evolves the existing framework of canvas. Through the technique of what he calls Cut & Paste, Yamaguchi achieves a uniquely chaotic, vibrantly intense and visually robust abstraction on various surfaces. The method entails laying out paints on plastic sheets to dry, then peeling it off and pasting them onto another surface as if collaging to create shapeless shapes and formless forms. His timeless and elegant style brought him naturally into the fashion world, working as a designer for famous brands such as Issey Miyake, Nike and Uniqlo. He has been collaborating with US brands such as Audi, Stussy, FTC, ALIFE, Oakley and Chari&Co NYC. He has participated in numerous exhibitions including shows at Kinfolk 94, +81 gallery in NY, Ace Hotel NY, Hidari Zingaro, HHH gallery in Tokyo, Art Fair Tokyo and Scope Art fair.