Bright Wind, another step by gallerydelaive

Ayako Rokkaku

Bright wind, another step

Gallery Delaive modern & contemporary art

Ayako Rokkaku

“Bright wind, another step”

Gallery Delaive proudly presents “Bright wind, another step” a solo exhibition by Japanese artist Ayako Rokkaku and her fifth solo show at Gallery Delaive in twelve years of representing the artist.

The exhibition presents new, never before shown, works from 2017 and 2018 on canvas, cardboard and Louis Vuitton trunks. During the opening weekend of 25 and 26 May the artist will paint live in the gallery.

Rokkaku’s iconic style features large female figures with candid facial expressions full of character. Vivid colored backgrounds, littered with flowers, tiny figures and rainbowlike smears compose a colorful and happy, dream world. Her unique technique, directly applying the acrylic paint to the canvas using her fingers and hands, is easily recognizable in the dynamic and lively compositions. Not limiting herself to traditional media, Rokkaku just as easily transforms pieces of used cardboard and vintage Louis Vuitton Trunks into colorful works of art.

With “Bright wind, another step” Rokkaku encourages the viewers to face the future: “If we feel the bright wind, we can step towards it. If we step forward, we can feel the bright wind”. For Rokkaku painting is like taking a walk without a plan.“When I paint I feel energetic and bright. It makes my feelings clear and makes me want to step forward. I hope people see my paintings and feel the same way”.

Winning an important prize at the Geisai, a fair for upcoming artists in Japan organized by important contemporary artist Takashi Murakami at the beginning of her career in 2006, one can nowadays easily draw comparisons with some of Japan’s most important artists of the moment, like Yoshitomo Nara.

Born in 1982 in Chiba, Japan, Ayako Rokkaku now lives and works alternately in Berlin, Porto, Tokyo and Amsterdam. Since 2006 Ayako Rokkaku has had exhibitions in numerous galleries and on art fairs in Asia, Europe and the U.S.A. and solo exhibitions in the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and the Meulensteen Danubiana Art Museum in Slovakia, attracting thousands of visitors. Ayako Rokkaku is proving to become an important name within the Japanese contemporary art scene.

ロッカクアヤコ: 「Bright wind, another step」

ギャラリー・デライブは日本の現代美術家ロッカクアヤコさんによる個展「Bright wind, another step」の開催をここに発表いたします。なお、我々が彼女の作品を紹介し始めて12 年となりますが、こちらはギャラリー・デライブでの5回目のソロ・ショーとなります。

この展覧会では、2017年から2018年のキャンバス、段ボール、またルイ・ヴィトンのトランクに描かれた、かつてないほどの数々の新作が展示されます。オープニングの週末である 5月25日と26日にはロッカクアヤコさんがギャラリー・デライブにてライブペインティングを行います。

ロッカクアヤコさんの作品の特徴としては、表情豊かな顔が魅力的な女の子のキャラクターが大きく登場することです。カラフルでポップな背景に、花が一面に咲き、ちょこちょこっとしたものや虹のような塗りは、カラフルで幸せな夢の世界を作り出しています。ロッカクアヤコさんのユニークな制作技法は、アクリル絵の具を使って直接指や手で描いていくことです。キャンバスに直接描いていくことで、ダイナミックで活気あふれる作品が生まれていきます。伝統的な絵画材料に捉われず使用済段ボールやヴィンテージのルイ・ヴィトンのトランクを使用し、それらをカラフルな芸術作品に変えてしまいます。

「Bright wind, another step」では、ロッカクアヤコさんはみなさまに未来を見てほしいという想いを込めています：「明るい風を感じるならば、その先のステップを踏み出すことができる。その先に踏み出せば、明るい風を感じることができる。」ロッカクアヤコさんは予定を立てずにお散歩をしているかのような世界を描きます。「私が作品を描くとき、私は元気に満ち溢れ、明るい気持ちでいっぱいになっています。その気持ちは鮮明で、その先に踏み出したいと言う思いでいっぱいになるのです。そして私の作品を見てくださる方々にも同じ気持ちで作品を見ていただきたいと思っています。」

2006年にアーティスト村上隆さん主催の若手アーティストの支援を目的としたアートの祭典であるGEISAIにて重要な賞を受賞されたロッカクアヤコさん。現在日本の最も重要なアーティストの一人である奈良美智さんのような存在とも言わるほどです。

1982年千葉県で生まれたロッカクアヤコさんは現在ベルリン、ポルト、東京、アムステルダムを拠点に生活し、活動をしています。2006年以来、ロッカクアヤコさんは、数多くのギャラリーだけでなく、アジア、ヨーロッパ、米国のアートフェアにも作品を出展。また、オランダ・ロッテルダムのクンストハル美術館とスロバキアのメレンスティーン・ダヌビアーナ美術館で個展を行った際は何千人もの来場者を集めました。ロッカクアヤコさんは日本の現代美術の中で重要な存在になってきているのです。

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2018, acrylic on cardboard, 88 x 64 cm., signed

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2018, acrylic on cardboard, 73 x 70 cm., signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2018, acrylic on cardboard, 47 x 70 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2018, acrylic on cardboard, 47 x 57 cm., signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2018, acrylic on cardboard, 57 x 47 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku at work in the studio in Amsterdam, 2017.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-025), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-026), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-011), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-032), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-013), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 140 x 180 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-018), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 x 90 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-022), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 150 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-030), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 80 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-002), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 65 cm., signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-001), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 65 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (AR17-001), 2017, acrylic on cardboard, 94 x 71 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku live painting in the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam, 2017.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-029), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 190 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-031), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-034), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku live painting in the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam, 2017.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-033), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-012), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 80 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku at work in the studio in Amsterdam, 2017.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-009), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 130 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-035), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 130 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-016), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed.

Rokkaku at work in the studio in Amsterdam, 2017.

Ayako

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-005), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-010), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 130 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku in the studio in Amsterdam, 2017.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-021), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 130 cm. diameter, signed.

Rokkaku at work in the studio in Amsterdam, 2017.

Ayako

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-015), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-014), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-008), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 130 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-004), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-017), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-007), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-006), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 cm. diameter, signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-038), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 140 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-036), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 145 x 75 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-037), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 145 x 75 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-020), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-019), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 90 x 90 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-028), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 80 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-027), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 80 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled (ARP17-003), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 65 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 140 x 100 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2017, acrylic on Louis Vuitton suitcase, 48 x 71 x 18 cm., signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2017, acrylic on Louis Vuitton suitcase, 53 x 81 x 26 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2017, acrylic on Louis Vuitton suitcase, 42 x 61 x 18 cm., signed. Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2017, acrylic on Louis Vuitton suitcase, 43 x 67 x 22 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 153 x 105 cm., signed.

Ayako Rokkaku, Untitled, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm., signed.

EXHIBITIONS

2018 “Bright wind, another step”, Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)

2018 KunstRAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Gallery Delaive)

2018 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2017 “Cool Japan”, Volkenkundig Museum Leiden, The Netherlands

2017 Cat Love. Nine lives in the art, Kunsthal Rotterdam

2017 “Obscura”, Gallery Target, Tokyo, Japan (solo)

2017 “Art Fair Tokyo 2017”, Tokyo, Japan

2017 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2016 Art Miami, Miami, U.S.A, (Gallery Delaive)

2016 Chiba Main Station key visual, Chiba, Japan

2016 “Sealed Reminiscence”, Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands (solo)

2016 Art New York, New York, U.S.A, (Gallery Delaive)

2016 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2015 Art Miami, Miami, U.S.A, (Gallery Delaive)

2015 Gallery Trax, Yamanashi, Japan (solo)

2015 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2015 Swatch loves Art, Hong Kong

2015 Swatch Art Pavilion, Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (solo)

2014 Art Miami, Miami, U.S.A, (Gallery Delaive)

2014 “FAces and Traces”, The Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai

2014 Museum van der Togt, Amstelveen, The Netherlands

2014 Gallery Target, Tokyo, Japan (solo)

2014 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2013 Affordable Art Fair, Hong Kong (Gallery Delaive)

2013 Art Miami, Miami, U.S.A, (Gallery Delaive)

2013 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2012 Pop Art Accrochage, Fluegel-Roncak Gallery, Nuremberg, Germany

2012 “Where the smell comes from”, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia (solo)

2012 Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany, (Gallery Delaive)

2012 Art Paris, Paris, France, (Gallery Delaive)

2012 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2012 Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China

2011 Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China

2011 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2011 “Colours in my hand”, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (solo)

2011 Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany, (Gallery Delaive)

2010 VACANT, Tokyo, Japan

2010 Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)

2010 Scope Basel, Basel, Switzerland, (Gallery Delaive

2010 “Manga in Amsterdam”, Willem Kerseboom gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2010 Art Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2010 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2009 Art Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive) (solo)

2009 TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2009 Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke- Heist, Belgium (solo)

2009 San Carlo Gallery, Milano, Italy

2009 Art Fair Tokyo: Tokyo international Forum, Tokyo, Japan (solo)

2008 Juliana Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2008 Art Taipei, Taiwan, (Gallery Delaive)

2008 Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands (solo)

2008 Art Fair Tokyo: Tokyo international Forum, Tokyo, Japan (solo)

2008 Galerie Wild, Frankfurt, Germany (solo)

2007 Galerie Teo, Tokyo, Japan (solo)

2007 Art Singapore, (Gallery Delaive)

2007 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark (solo)

2007 Amsterdam RAI, Amsterdam, Netherlands, (Gallery Delaive)

2007 Hotel Agnes, Tokyo, Japan

2007 “Walking around clouds”, Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands (solo)

2007 Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany, (Gallery Delaive)

2006 The Ice Palace, Miami, USA

2006 Galerie AAA, Paris, France (solo)

2006 Tokyo Big Sight, GEISAI #10, Tokyo, Japan

2006 Tokyo GG Night, Hotel Claska, Tokyo, Japan

2006 Tokyo Girls Collection, Yoyogi Taikukan, Tokyo, Japan

2006 Art Basel Volta Show02 (group)

2006 GEISAI #9, Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan

1982 Born in Tokyo, Japan

2018 Lives and works in Porto, Berlin, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. Rokkaku’s work is included in the collection of the Voorlinden Museum in The Netherlands and the Meulensteen Danubiana Art Museum in Slovakia.

Ayako Rokkaku with Mr. Nick Hayek at the opening of the Swatch Art Peace hotel, Shanghai, 2011.

Ayako Rokkaku with Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, at the opening of Art Amsterdam, 2009.