�Gallery Coo will hold its fourth exhibition since its opening with a debut show of drawings by Ken Isogai.  In contrast to the more traditional works shown thus far, this exhibition consists of seemingly current images that questions the validity of expression.  Isogai has traveled in Mongolia, Africa, South and North America during which time he seems to have inadvertently looked at himself.  He may have originally intended not to exhibited these works, but in deciding to do so, it would not be surprising for him to feel the anxiety of showing his work to the New York public for the first time.

A simplified delineated character that looks as if he'd stepped out of a television anime is found in three-quarter view looking either to the left or right in the middle of each work.  The background in similar fashion shows a simplified situation in front of which the character poses.  All the works are drawings using an HB pencil; the largest is 26" X 41" which took over 2,000 hours to complete.

Isogai's strong conviction in the images of the character manifests itself in the excruciatingly long number of hours he spent in executing the works.  According to Isogai, "what I want to express is not the superficial form, but the spirituality behind it."  One wonders what spirituality lies beneath the images he created so painstakingly.  In the history of art, there were Buddhist images to enlighten the viewer, and religious icons that depicted the world of the gods.

Rather than art materials that could be used more effectively to produce an image, Isogai remains persistent with his HB pencil.  His selection could be an influence of the Italian Arte Povera Movement of the late 1960s which insisted in the use of everyday materials for expression.  Contemporary movements of that time are Minimalism and Conceptualism in which traces of activities or paintings without images all together were the vogue.  Young Japanese artists at beezemi or B Seminar used the term kakawaru or 'to get involved' in the place of the word 'imagemaking.'  The use of the HB pencil prolongs the drawing process and requires more physical involvement with the surface which makes it an ideal material for such expression.

Isogai's work manifests itself in the various aspects of the studio environment in light of current Japanese culture.  There are multiple levels in which Isogai's pencil drawings can be viewed with both art and society in mind.

Gallery writer: Hitoshi Nakazato
Translation : Sumiko Takeda