OPENING RECEPTION?Ken Okamoto – Reflect world 11/8??
Title: Reflect world
Artist: Ken Okamoto
Biography:
Ken Okamoto was born in Niigata in 1980. He lived in the Kansai region when he went to university. He began to take photographs in 2011. He wanted to try something fun when his project of work ended and he wasn’t busy at work. At that time, he remembered that city and river landscapes of Osaka is very interesting. He began to take photographs using his digital camera. He was enthralled by taking pictures of the attractive side of Osaka. He took a picture of various landscapes in Osaka, for example factory, road junction. Now, His area of interest is interaction of city and people. He enthuses taking street picture.
He publishes the photographs on the Web and SNS(Instagram) once a day.
Ken will continue exploring the city in the future because there is so much beauty left to discover.
Gallery 2:
Artist: Yuko Kyutoku
Biography:
Yuko Kyutoku travels through her own purely hidden spiritual world which is sensitive, dense, and abstract. She was born in Gifu and raised in Aichi, Japan in 1991. Living around beautiful nature, traditional and historical places, Yuko’s disposition toward these environments has been constant in her life. When she was younger, she read many classical books and cartoon magazines. She also listened to many kinds of great music and watched many movies. These classic masterpieces are major impacts in her sensibility and unique spirit world.
Her motto is “life is only one time”. At the age of twenty years old, she decided to go to London. During her trip to London, she visited many museums and saw many great masterpieces. At the same time, she traveled to many European countries by herself and visited many local galleries and museums. These experiences made her very interested in Art and consequently pushed her to study Art in New York. She started studying visual arts in community college where she was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, Leonard Da Vinchi and Marc Chagall. Their visions and philosophy of which affected her deeply. Yuko also make sculpture, print, drawing, and painting to explore the possibilities of expression and illustrations. These works are realistic and at the same time, there is also reminds her of Japanese painting. The main theme of her work usually focuses on daydreams from the childhood memories. These memories came from the music, movies, and books. She makes a link between her daydreams and the real world.
While studying at SUNY Purchase college, she submitted her artworks to many exhibitions and competitions. In fall 2015, she won the Jurior Choice Award for the print works from Professor Jurian Kraimer from SUNY Purchase College. In fall 2016, she will make her first solo exhibition at Ouchi Gallery. Yuko learn that making art is the best way to express herself, and a great communication tool between the different people. Art can overcome the language and cultural barriers. She realizes that making art is contributing to peace in the world. She will continue making art as long as she has a never-ending curiosity for life.
