The second phase of the art collaboration project between CADAN (Japan Contemporary Art Dealers Association), which comprises 47 leading contemporary art galleries in Japan, and Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building titled "Seasonal Cohabit," will begin on Wednesday, March 31st. Similar to the first phase, "take over," held last year, contemporary art handled by CADAN member galleries will be displayed in the cubic exhibition spaces called SI (Store Identity) installed on the four floors of the building.

"Seasonal Cohabit" is a coined word reflecting the idea of a society that respects sustainable diversity.

Since its remodel in March 2019, Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building has been actively engaging with art. In its first project last year, the "take over" series, themed around the concept of "take over," derived from the promotional term used on social media platforms such as Instagram, the project utilized the ISETAN MEN'S building as a platform for mutual "takeovers" to present contemporary art handled by CADAN member galleries to customers as having new value. Over the course of a year, works by a total of 16 artists were exhibited on the floors of ISETAN MEN'S building.

The second phase, which begins on Wednesday, March 31st, has "Seasonal Cohabit" as its series theme. This coined word embodies the idea of different people living together peacefully and reflects a vision of a sustainable society that respects diversity. In line with this theme, works curated by CADAN will be displayed in the exhibition space SI (Store Identity).

Four contemporary art pieces curated by CADAN have appeared.

Keisuke Yamamoto (Affiliated gallery: Tomio Koyama Gallery)

A new frontier opened up by personifying tools that were once used for other purposes.

Keisuke Yamamoto has been creating works that traverse two forms of expression: sculpture and painting. In 2012, he presented works in which he added materials to or sculpted old tools and other objects he had found. The act of personifying tools that were once used for other purposes is familiar to Japanese people, and this kind of folk sensibility suggests a new development in the artist's work.

• Keisuke Yamamoto
• Keisuke Yamamoto was born in Tokyo in 1979. After graduating from the Department of Sculpture at Tokyo Zokei University in 2001, he remained as a research student at the same university until 2003. In 2018, he completed his postgraduate studies in sculpture at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He is currently based in Kanagawa Prefecture and works as an artist. His works are held in collections such as the National Museum of Art, Osaka and private collections overseas.

Ondayama (Onda Niwako + Yamashita Takuya) (Affiliated gallery: TALION GALLERY)

What do the characters created by the unit reflect?

For the group exhibition "When the Best Idea Comes" (2020), these items were created in the form of sweatshirts, posters, etc., based on the premise of announcing the "Kanegane" exhibition, which would be held eight years later with the same participating artists and in the same location. These multiple works were given away for free on the condition that the wearer promised to wear them every day to promote the exhibition, which was a tangible reality.

• Atsuda Mountain (Atsuda Niwako + Yamashita Takuya)
• Ontayayama (Ontani Wako + Yamashita Takuya) is a unit formed by manga artist Ontani Wako and visual artist Yamashita Takuya. They began their activities in 2017. By personifying the invisible processes involved in the transmission and distribution of messages using characters, they draw the intricate web of highly organized information culture into the exhibition space and present its raw cross-section as artwork. Ontani Wako publishes manga online under the pen name Pyonnurira and began working under the name Ontani Wako in 2015. Yamashita Takuya was born in Mie Prefecture in 1985 and has been working as an artist since graduating from the Kyoto City University of Arts Graduate School (Sculpture) in 2013.

Fumihisa Suenaga (Affiliated gallery: Maki Fine Arts)

These three-dimensional works, which simplify elements of everyday objects, showcase exceptional technique.

"Origami Mall" is inspired by the origami ring decorations that were made in schools and other places. The structure that allows you to create a huge decoration from simple materials and simple actions may have been what first awakened the "awareness of decorating" in many people.

• Fuminao Suenaga
• Fumio Suenaga was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1974. He graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Art and Design, Tokyo Zokei University. In addition to paintings themed on the places and times in which he grew up, he has also produced "tangram paintings," which are interchangeable and variable paintings inspired by the silhouette puzzle "tangram," and three-dimensional paintings in which he measures everyday objects and extracts only the surface elements of the motifs onto panels of the same size. By omitting and simplifying the elements of the materials, he moves away from the conventional painting system and makes viewers aware of the essential meaning of painting.

Takanori Ishizuka (Affiliated galleries: nca | nichido contemporary art)

A parallel world where neighbors have transformed into animals?

Takanori Ishizuka's works feature a succession of adorable yet strange small animals (creatures) with vivid, lifelike expressions, heavily influenced by his own interests in Japanese mythology, ethnology, caricatures, and woodblock prints. The anthropomorphic animals convey the world and thoughts surrounding Ishizuka on his behalf. This work is one of the "Sunlit Park" series, which began with a miniature diorama in a museum and reflects on the environment and current situation surrounding him.

• Takanori Ishizuka
• Takanori Ishizuka ● Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1970. He expresses "things" and "events" that exist in reality but are invisible, using animal characters in sculptures, drawings, and paintings. His works are also held in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art.

Organizer: Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building
Cooperation: Japan Contemporary Art Dealers Association

Text: ISETAN MEN'S net

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