Critical Surface / At a Critical Moment

"statement from the curator"

This exhibition featuring Motoharu Nakagawa and Tomohiro Kubota was technically a “group” exhibition. But as the double title—“Critical Surface” / “At a Critical Moment”—suggests, the actual intention was to make it a “double solo” show. The idea was to present two artists’ solo exhibitions in a single gallery at the same time, without separating them spatially or even unifying their conceptions. Would this be possible? 
Motoharu Nakagawa and Tomohiro Kubota each have their own artistic style and approach. Nakagawa is essentially a figurative painter. Most of his works are oil paintings based on photographs he himself has taken or images he’s collected. Kubota, on the other hand, often approaches installations using multiple media and combinations of varied objects, and he also likes to use inkjet printing to create various abstract images. However, both Nakagawa and Kubota are very interested in the criteria of art, in the mythologies surrounding originality and reproduction technology, and in the relationships between personal motives and historical contexts. In this sense, they are “critical artists.” 
When they attempt to expose their works under different ideas in situations which don’t necessarily allow indifference to one another, unexpected interactions will occur and reveal critical aspects about the possibility/impossibility that two creative subjects can coexist. 

Curator：Shin Yoshimura