Altman Siegel is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Japanese painter Shinpei Kusanagi.   Kusanagi will introduce new work in his debut exhibition Towing Voyage, which will run from November 5th - December 19th, 2009.  This will be the artist's first solo show in the United States.

Shinpei Kusanagi's skillful and intuitive combination of techniques and influences make his paintings singularly unique.  Kusanagi's canvases recall European landscape paintings characterized by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint.  At the same time, his quickly executed brushstrokes and minimal detail evoke Japanese calligraphy.  His landscapes are both dynamic and understated.  Kusanagi leaves much of the canvas raw, and lets simple strokes of pencil line and acrylic create figures, space and movement.  Gestural white lines create fleeting reflections in glass or falling snow as if the viewer is seeing a landscape moving rapidly by from a car window.  Efficient marks imply mountains, clouds, sidewalks and telephone lines, and yet the overall compositions remain spare and abstract.

The nautical expression 'towing voyage' describes the act of towing a large ship that is out of commission or unable to navigate certain channels on its own.  In this exhibition Kusanagi uses this title to tie together the struggle with personal history and its heavy relationship with the present.  He expresses this relationship to memory by setting up a formal challenge, combining several landscapes and working them into coexistence.   The compositions develop from tiers of duality, layers of images and the challenge of quieting an inner dialogue while being present in reality.

Shinpei Kusanagi (b. 1973) lives and works in Tokyo.  He has exhibited in Japan with Gallery Sora, Tokyo and Taka Ishii Gallery, Kyoto, and internationally at the NADA Art Fair and the Armory Show.  He has participated in artist's residencies in Vienna and Yokohama and been shortlisted for the Philip Morris Art Award.