Shingo Francis, Spectral Visions I, 2023, acrylic on paper mounted on panel, 155 x 60 cm
On the Nature of Daylight
Shingo Francis, Jaeeun Choi, Shimizu Jio, Iba Yasuko
Saturday, January 20 – Saturday, Mach 9, 2024
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12:00-19:00 (Closed on Mon, Sun, Public holidays)
Press Release
Download Press release (日本語)
Download Press release (English)
MISA SHIN GALLERY is pleased to present On the Nature of Daylight, a group exhibition featuring Shingo Francis, Jaeeun Choi, Shimizu Jio, and Iba Yasuko. The exhibition runs from January 20 to March 9, 2024.
At a time when it was difficult to travel between cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, Shingo Francis began work on Daily Drawing as a physical response to the global situation. He made himself draw every day without fail in his studio in Los Angeles as a sort of meditation. In this exhibition, he exhibits large drawings that are brimming with a vibrant transparency.
Jaeeun Choi’s No Borders Exist in Nature is a drawing of a poem in graphite on a single page from an old field guide having margins that are tanned by exposure to light over time. Words that reflect Choi’s thoughts on nature, as well as coexistence and anthropocentrism—which lie at the very root of his work—are meticulously spelled out on paper that that has been etched by time.
Jaeeun Choi, No Borders Exist in Nature,2020
Graphite on aged paper, 49.5 x 34 cm
Shimizu Jio magnifies the characteristics of the infinitesimal elements that make up the physical world—sound, light and vibration—to visually reproduce the physical phenomena resulting from those characteristics. His 19:31.0 + 27° Cygnus 25th Nov 2007 is a daytime photograph of the sky in the direction of the Cygnus constellation. The tranquil monochrome photo appears to contain nothing at all, but it informs us that what we see with our eyes is not the only thing that exists.
Shimizu Jio, 19:31.0 + 27°Cygnus, 2007
Lambda print, 180 x 120 cm
Textured landscapes with a feeling very unlike normal vision unfold in Iba Yasuko’s works depicting plant life. The work arouses non-visual sensations and memories in the viewer, so the act of seeing becomes an experience that goes beyond sight alone.
Iba Yasuko, Untitled2021-12, oil on canvas, 89.4 x 145.5 cm
Beyond “sunlight” and “daytime,” the “daylight” of the exhibition title can also be interpreted as referring to an understanding and knowledge of heretofore unknown things, or to the dawn or the light of day. With our individual lives and society as whole undergoing major transformations in the post-pandemic era, works that hint at the future from the perspective of each of these artists provide an opportunity to think about nature and human existence.
崔在銀 Jaeeun Choi
Born in Seoul in 1953. In 1976, she moved to Tokyo where she studied ikebana in the Sogetsu style. From the 1980s onward, she has been producing artwork around the themes of life cycles and time. She has participated in international art exhibitions such as the São Paolo Biennal, the Venice Biennale. Major solo exhibitions include Samsung Gallery, Hara Museum, the National Gallery, Prague. Currently her solo exhibition “La Vita Nuova” is on view at Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum, Tokyo.
フランシス真悟 Shingo Francis
Born 1969 in Santa Monica, California. Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA and Kamakura, Japan. Francis explores the vast space and spirituality of painting through abstract expressions that consist of multiple layers of blue and deep monochrome color works. Major exhibitions include DIC Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art,(Chiba), Sezon Museum of Modern Art, (Nagano), Martin Museum of Art, (Waco).
伊庭靖子 Iba Yasuko
Born in Kyoto in 1967. Kyoto Saga University of Arts, postgraduate degree in print. Recent solo exhibitions include Whereness of Brilliance at the Museum of Art Kamakura (2009), and A Way of Seeing at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (2019).
志水児王 Shimizu Jio
Born in Tokyo 1966. Lives and works in Hiroshima and Saitama. From 1994 to 1996, participated in WrK label. Major exhibitions include Museum of Contemporary Art Roskilde (Copenhagen), Tungenes Fyr (Norway), NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] (Tokyo), The National Art Center (Tokyo), Setouchi Triennale (Kagawa).