Riyoo Kim ×　Wataru Yamakami "Magic Real"

Cooperation : SNOW Contemporary

Maki Fine Arts is pleased to present Magic Real, a joint exhibition by Riyoo Kim and Wataru Yamakami starting Saturday, October 25, 2014. Magic Real is based on the concept, shared by both artists, that the real world is magical. The title of the show derives from Magic Realism, a literary and art trend in expression said to have originated in Latin America. A quarter of a century after Magiciens de la Terre exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in 1989, Magic Real will showcase the viewpoints of the new-generation artists.

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1980, Riyoo Kim is the most sought-after ceramic artist of today and has also received high praise as a contemporary artist through exhibitions such as Yokohama Triennale 2011, BASARA (Spiral Garden 2010), and awes for the cosmic (solo show at SNOW Contemporary 2013) .

Wataru Yamakami was born in Kochi, Japan in 1981 and currently lives and works in Nagano prefecture. Notable exhibits include the group show THE MIRROR : Hold the mirror up to the nature (Nagoya Shoko Kaikan, Tokyo 2014) as well as his solo show Eden (Maki Fine Arts 2011). Yamakami has been showcasing paintings, three-dimensional pieces, and installations by focusing on ideas of proliferation and transformation as well as the link between the two.

Through ceramic works by Kim and new drawings and painting by Yamakami, visitors of the upcoming show will encounter the silhouette of the mysterious Magic Real world, a world neither illusion nor real, a hybrid of the present day and ancient times, where street culture and shamanism are fused together.