It is a great pleasure to announce the opening of the Japanese artist Shintaro Miyake´s third solo exhibition at c/o – Gerhardsen Gerner (formerly known as c/o – Atle Gerhardsen).

In April 2009 Shintaro Miyake will be showing eight new drawings on paper. The large oblong paper roll is covered with hundreds of tiny characters caught up in a scrimmage. They are lumped together, forming a colourful mass of screaming and bolting figures. In the haste of their flight, their elongated limbs mesh in a recurrent pattern, the movement multiplied in eternal repetition of the same. The surge of the masses ripples away from the centre. This is where a character emerges who is recognizably Death in action: with forceful attack he swings his scythe to and fro. He faces a overgrown apple that breaks the uniform sway of the crowd, the individual bodies crashing up against the surface as the froth of a raging sea.

Akin to the Manga and Anime traditions of Japanese animation, the artist creates cartoonish imaginary realms related to a number of topics. His work is characterized by simple, clear-cut motifs, which strike a defined tone, displaying impressive craftsmanship and an accomplished play with colours. The current exhibition is unevenly cataclysmic: apocalyptic scenes displace the colourful world of cuddly fantasy figures.
Contemporary Japan is a prospering consumer society where media holds significant influence. While referring to technique and resources of everyday culture, the art of New Pop also reflects traditional Japanese art by creating a new world with its own characters and symbols. This style also eagerly incorporates new codes and symbols, including ones borrowed from western visual culture.

Despite the international success enjoyed by some of the artists and the visual airiness of their paintings, their art has its roots in sub-culture and still defines itself in terms of this heritage.

Numerous international solo exhibitions were dedicated to Shintaro Miyake´s work: at Museum der Moderne in Salzburg, MOCA in Taipei, Galleria d´Arte Moderna di Bologna, Art Unlimited in Basel 2008, Art Brut Center in Gugging, as well as at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin in 2006.