Pratt in Venice alumnus Kosuke Kawahara (PIV ‘19) has been selected by a Jury to exhibit his work, Misty Peak, at The Nippon Club WEB Gallery exhibition, “Forward Together!”.
Kosuke Kawahara (PIV ‘19), Misty Peak, 2020, oil color, acrylic, spray paint, beeswax, animal glue, shellac, found paper, cloth, lumber, 48 x 35 in. (Courtesy of the artist)
With the support from the J.C.C. Fund (Philanthropic Fund of Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York), The Nippon Club has opened The Nippon Club WEB Gallery in order to introduce Japanese culture on a national and global level. As a kick-off, with the cooperation of the Consulate-General of Japan in New York, The Nippon Club held an Open Call in order to support the creative activities of artists living in the Tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, who were forced to stay home due to the new coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions. From 54 entries, the jury selected 15 excellent works, including that of Kosuke.
In his own words, Kosuke states:
“My latest art project entitled “Into an Ultrablack” began in 2012 in New York City. I was inspired by the idea of darkness in Junichiro Tanizaki’s essay, “In Praise of Shadows (1933),” which indicates deep space of the blackness through traditional lacquerware. Imagining invisible presences that may exist within the dark, similarly, I observe ambiguity still presents in various binaries, such as nature/art, death/life, human/animal, male/female, organic/inanimate, reality/dream, and suchlike. The twilight surrounding these concepts overlaps with the dark history of New York City, leading me to generate cryptic imageries beyond such various hedges.”
The Nippon Club Open Call WEB Art Exhibition “Forward Together!” is on view from September 16–October 14, 2020, online.
Kosuke Kawahara (PIV ‘19) is a Brooklyn based artist, who was born in Kyoto and raised in Shiga, Japan. His intuitive/improvisational gesture generates site-relevant imagery through its multi-layered structure. Kawahara completed an MFA in Painting/Drawing at Pratt Institute in May 2020. He received multiple scholarships from Pratt, including a Pratt Merit-based Scholarship, a Weiss Endowed Scholarship, a Carlow Memorial Scholarship, a Pratt in Venice 2019 Merit-based Scholarship, and a Pratt in Venice 2019 Assistantship Award.
