WHITESTONE Gallery Karuizawa is pleased to present "IT WAS", a solo exhibition of new works by MADARA MANJI, an artist active in the field of contemporary art who creates three-dimensional works using metal materials.
After graduating from high school, MADARA MANJI moved to Kyoto to study metal engraving, which is the basis of his work, and acquired the basics of various metalworking techniques under the guidance of a metal engraver.
In recent years, he has pursued his interest in religious studies, Zen philosophy, physics, and astronomy, and has begun to create works using non-metallic materials in addition to metal, a material he has worked with since his debut.
In this exhibition, "IT WAS", he has acquired a wider range of means of expression based on his constant interest in the "state of the human mind", which has led him to create and present new three-dimensional works and installations. For the artist, who has always considered the creation of works as "a research activity based on imagination and curiosity," all kinds of materials have become a means of expressing the proposition of "what it means to exist," and his thinking continues to expand even today. This exhibition "IT WAS" is linked to the exhibition "ALIVE" at the Shiga Kogen Roman Museum of Art, and there is a strong relationship between these two exhibitions. In particular, the installation work "Traces of Waves (untitled)" in this exhibition was created using "SKIN #01," a work shown in the "ALIVE" exhibition at the Shiga Kogen Roman Museum. The titles of the two venues are "IT WAS" and "ALIVE," which are one word. This method of expression is an example of the artist's transcending space to express his idea that "the human psyche consists of a vast amount of information and a complex causal relationship of opposing factors. Since his solo exhibition "Antagonism and Trancesendence" at the gallery in 2017, Madara Manji has exhibited in a wide range of countries.