Mr. : Beyond the Alley, There...

Beyond the Alley, There… is a solo exhibition by the Japanese artist Mr., which reflecting his long-standing commitment to critically examining how images and desires are communicated in global internet culture, features new large-scale paintings, formed head and body drawings, and works on paper.

At the heart of his practice is otaku, an increasingly popular and popular subculture of Japanese fans, oriented towards seclusion and a retreat into immersive fantasy worlds, especially manga and anime. Passionate about bridging popular visual culture and high art culture, the artist likens himself to a translator, positioning anime, manga and other otaku icons in the fine arts for a global audience. Not a cool observer, he immersed himself in otaku culture, noting that his work sometimes reflects his personal interest in fantasy and imaginative world-building. As he reinterprets the otaku aesthetic for the international art world, he is both an outsider and an insider, a journalist and a diarist.

In the exhibition, the artist conjures up a fantasy world filled with everydayness and commerce, with emojis, fast food signs, slang and other mundane artefacts appearing in this latest work. The massive eye, which paints reflections on its surface, is the centerpiece of all these shape compositions, subtly alluding to the complex inner life he creates for each of his characters. Other works in the exhibition reflect his recent interest in layered surfaces and urban spaces. In these works, the central figure begins to step back into the saturated vision of graffiti surfaces and storefronts. Despite its fictional nature, the artist's multi-layered, imaginative world is never out of touch with reality, and at every turn, he reveals the desire and fantasy of commercial imagery and mundane visual culture.

Image Credit: @lehmannmaupin
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