A solo exhibition “stroke: shun kawakami featuring jun inoue”, by artless Inc. representative and artist / art director Shun Kawakami will be on show at artless appointment gallery. Previously on show in March at Melbourne’s Backwoods Gallery, this exhibition features works utilizing brush strokes by graffiti artist Jun Inoue. The exhibition was made possible by Alexander Hugh Mitchell, director and curator of Backwoods Gallery.

Below, a message from Alexander Hugh Mitchell.

Japanese culture could be said to consist of two distinctly different aesthetics, pop-culture and traditional. Japanese pop-culture is the frenetic mashup of international icons, brands, fashion, art and music that has come to commonly represent Japan in the west. Traditional Japan on the other hand, is the austerity of the tea ceremony, the delicacy of ikebana or the zen minimalism of calligraphy. It is a style that is as carefully considered as it is shaped by Japan’s long history.

While a strong argument can be made that both aesthetic extremes were founded on a common cultural framework, from a superficial point of view the two couldn’t be anymore different. This aesthetic gap was expanded during Japan’s economic growth in the 70’s, and as a result, while traditional Japanese aesthetics has always had its place, being honored in age-old artistic disciplines, it is rarely embraced by young, contemporary artists and is underrepresented in the contemporary cultural dialogue. Could artists, drawing on tradition, inspire a new artistic movement which embraces traditional Japanese aesthetics in a contemporary context? This is the primary question that Shun Kawakami explores with his work.

Kawakami is an award winning art director with a deep understanding of global art and design trends. His professional expertise allows him to focus on expressing the fundamentals of traditional Japanese aesthetics. As a result, Kawakami’s digital collages, interactive-artworks and multimedia installations are sublime experiences in zen poetry that confidently push the boundaries of their media. Kawakami recently received the Salon des Beaux Arts, Carrousel du Louvre, Médaille d’Or for his 2017 installation at The Louvre. Kawakami’s projects are supported and produced by artless Inc., a design studio that he founded in 2001. Under his guidance, artless Inc. has grown into one of Tokyo’s most highly awarded firms, with clients ranging from Microsoft to Issey Miyake. Together with his team, Kawakami works to develop and promote a new vision for modern Japanese aesthetics.

Kawakami is an art director and artist who expresses the fundamentals of traditional Japanese aesthetics in a contemporary context. Encompassing Japan’s unique aesthetic and tradition, his work can be defined as contemporary art.

Alexander Hugh Mitchell
Curator