410 Award Exhibition
Award-winning artist solo exhibition
KotoriNoko
Salt Shop
2025.3.20 (Thu) - 3.23 (Sun)
Salt has been a part of our daily lives since ancient times, but depending on the amount used, it can be just right or too much.
This time, we will be exhibiting the amusing people and products related to salt.
I hope you can find the right balance.
KotoriNoko
Kotorinoko/Artist
profile
He lives in Fukuoka. He majored in graphic design at university and is studying comprehensive design related to society at graduate school. Since childhood, he has been attracted to the ambiguity, mystery, and nostalgia of picture books, and his creative activities are centered on pictures and stories.
Born in 1998 in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
2021 Graduated from Kyushu University, School of Design, Department of Image Design
2022 Study Abroad at University of Aar, Finland (1 year)
2024 Kyushu University Graduate School of Design, Design Strategy Program Completed
Right or wrong? The "amount of salt" stirs the heart.
Noriko Kotori held a solo exhibition titled "Shioya."
This display was also designed by me.
Once you see it, it's sure to haunt your dreams.
A young man is rubbing salt into the red abrasion on the knee of a large man. The title of the work is "Man rubbing salt into wounds." Holding a jar of salt, he concentrates on his fingertips with a blank look in his eyes.
The title of the work displayed next to it was "The Man Who Sprinkles Salt on Children." This time, a large figure is sprinkling salt on a boy, and the salt piles up like a mountain on his head. In neither painting is the face of the large figure depicted. The viewer's gaze is drawn to the boy's expressionless eyes.
The title of the exhibition is "Shioya" (Salt House). It may seem strange, but Noriko Kotori's extraordinary imagination can be seen in her focus on salt, a compound that is essential to humans.
The phrase "rubbing salt into the wound" was inspired by a casual conversation with my family. When I looked into it, I found that there were more variations in expressions using salt than I had expected. "Shy," "sending salt to the enemy," "a person who has lost his saltiness," "a salty response," and "anbai" (the right balance).
"Someone who takes good care of you"
"Someone who rubs salt into the wound"
"Shio-kao-sui" triptych
Shiogaosui product packaging
Shiogaosui product advertisement
■ "I like words that are neither good nor evil"
Originally, she "liked words that were neither good nor evil." She attended Christian schools for middle and high school, and although she is not a believer, she probably naturally developed a religious sensibility. She was also interested in the archaic smile of Buddhist statues originating from ancient Greece. While the facial expression is kept to a minimum, only the mouth appears to be smiling. This may be where the origins of the writer Noriko Kotori's unobtrusive expression lie.
The most notable of these is a series of three works titled "Salty Face." Beneath the works is an advertisement for a fictional product called "Salty Face Water." It depicts a person with a blank, smooth face, with the taglines "A new era in pursuit of a light look," "For the face," and "Effective results."
個展会場にたたずむ小鳥乃子
"Salty face one month later"
"Salty face 2 months later"
"Salty face 3 months later "
■This is almost a horror movie.
The expression of the Shio-kao character changes one month, two months, and three months after using the salt face water. After three months, the eyes, nose, and mouth become smaller and thinner... This is almost horror. It's no wonder that he is a fan of horror manga artists Junji Ito (famous works "Tomie" and "Uzumaki") and Kazuo Umezu (famous works "Drifting Classroom" and "Makoto-chan").
There is one more trick to this Shio-ga-sui. He even designed the packaging for the product and made a sticker for it. As someone who studied animation, video, CG and projection mapping at the Kyushu University Graduate School of Design, it is surprising that he was able to create such an appealing product, even if it is fictional.
Another interesting piece is "Toys for Making Shells," which was drawn from his experience of collecting insect shells as a child. It depicts a boy looking a little happy, holding the shell of a newt-like creature, and the caption reads, "Using this shell liquid, you can make shells of any shape you like."
"Toys that make empty shells"
"A mist sprayer that makes noise"
"Child being bitten by mosquitoes"
■I always said I wanted to be a picture book author
These original works, which no one would ever think of, such as the "Speaking Spray Bottle," which depicts "Mama Spray," which makes the sound "ma" when sprayed, and "Child Bitten by Mosquito," which depicts the cruelty of killing a mosquito that has bitten you in the face, make you want to look at every detail over and over again.
Ever since kindergarten, she has said she wanted to be a picture book author. She will graduate from graduate school in March 2024 and work part-time while continuing to create her books. I look forward to the release of her new book that will stir people's hearts. (Writer, Todo Ramon)
410Gallery YouTube channel "RIS410" #02 Interview with Noriko Kotori → Click here
Wanpaku chunen Tonomaru
Extreme "Craft" Art Exhibition
architecture 2.0
2024.10/3(thu)-10/6(sun)
An art activist who calls himself a global "artist."
Using the art and craft he experienced as a child as a means of expression, he is engaged in extreme craft activities day and night, cunningly examining the intersection of craft and art. He creates installations using everyday objects, snaps of the city, and works with a sense of comedy that is not limited to techniques or technology.
[Activity history] Solo exhibitions and group exhibitions 2023 FLOW (igu_m_art) PHASE (gallery yongou) 2024 architecture (gallery yongou) un do plus (sweets gallery ℃ sesshi) architecture 2.0 (410Gallery) Art events and special exhibitions 2023 Independent Tokyo 2023 (Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center) 2024 1st Matsumoto International Art Exhibition un do Exhibition *Grand Prize winner (Matsumoto City Museum) BILLIKEN CREATORS OSAKA 4 (Tamurakoma Co., Ltd. Osaka Head Office) Dynamic Contemporary Artists Exhibition *410Gallery Award winner (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum) 4 ROOMS ART (Seaside Studio CASO) Ikebukuro Wandering Art Exhibition 2024 (Jiyugakuen Myonichikan) Chignitters ART CAMP (Chignitter) Independent Tokyo 2024 *Tugboat Special Award Winner (Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center) As of 2024
Appealing to the playfulness of adults
An original masterpiece
Naughty middle-aged man and Maru
Tonomaru, a mischievous middle-aged man whose trademark is wearing a mask
Self-proclaimed
"The World's Craftsmen"
These original works stimulate the playful side of adults and will burn into your mind once you see them.
For example, there is a three-dimensional work called "DOGLE SUIT." I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels a mysterious presence and latent energy from it. When I heard that it was a combination of the Jomon period "Shakoki Dogu" and the mobile suit from the anime "Mobile Suit Gundam," I was surprised by the idea, although it made sense.
The clay figurine, a product of a peaceful civilization that lasted nearly 15,000 years, is combined with a mobile suit designed to be worn by humans living in space. I don't know what the significance of this is. However, I can sense a mysterious power, a kind of aura.
This inspiration and playfulness is also reflected in the artist name. "Tonomaru" comes from Kazuto Tonoma, a character from the baseball manga "Dokaben" by Shinji Mizushima. Although small in stature for a baseball player, Tonoma has a unique batting style that allows him to perform "secret hits" and is a top-class pianist. This admiration for Tonoma leads to his originality.
The "DOGULE SUIT" exudes a presence that combines the past and the future
Hana Samurai and his friends: The Greatest Super
Born and raised in Osaka City. It's probably common in Osaka, the city of comedy, but I've loved comedy since I was a child and even aspired to be a comedian. However, I couldn't keep up with the "athletic vibe" of groups. So I thought, "If it's artistic expression, there seems to be less of a problem," and started making works on my own. It seems that the origin of my playfulness lies there.
However, that is not enough to make a living. He has lived his life changing jobs several times, including photo developing, working at an eyeglass store, and in medical equipment rental sales. The turning point came in 2018, when his parents, who he lived with, became weaker and he needed to care for them. So he quit his job and devoted himself to caring for them, and at the same time, he also began to get serious about his creative work.
Then, the illustration won a prize at the Kansai public exhibition "Art Stream 2018". The title is "Hana Samurai and his fun friends: The Greatest Supper". It is a group of parody works that started from "the silly idea that it would be funny if a samurai's topknot was a flower", but the expressive characters such as animals, gals, wrestlers, and kabuki actors never get boring.
I was hoping to gain momentum from this, but in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit and I lost the opportunity to present my work. On April 8, the day after a state of emergency was declared in seven prefectures, including Osaka, I was shocked to find myself walking through the deserted streets.
"PRESENCE" is a photobook capturing city scenes during the coronavirus pandemic.
"I had no idea the architecture was so beautiful."
From then on, he continued to take photos in the empty city every day. He published the photo book "PRESENCE" in April 2023, which was a collection of photos he had taken with his smartphone over the course of about two years. It is a work of art that captures the pure beauty of buildings in a human city without humans, and is also a valuable book as a record of the pandemic.
This activity, which he says "changed something inside of me," must have had an impact on his creative work.
"architecture"
He began to focus on creating a series of works that he called ``.''
"DOGLE SUIT" is one of them. In 2012, he won the top prize at the "1st Matsumoto International Art Exhibition un do" (Matsumoto City Museum of Art) in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. The "architecture" series also won the 410 Gallery Award at the "Dynamic Contemporary Artists Exhibition" (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum) in Fukuoka.
Business cards are also unique works of art
A strange architecture made of stacked dice
His solo exhibition at the 410 Gallery featured a lineup of masterpieces designed to heighten the viewer's inspiration, including works with game character motifs, colorful works with overlapping acrylic panels that scatter light, and strange structures made of stacked dice. Born in 1975, he is 49 years old. His late-blooming talent continues to evolve. (Writer Todo Ramon)
Takashi Ito solo exhibition
"Tower of B and Inspirational Creatures"
2024.9/13(Fri)-9/16(Mon)
Ever since I was a child, I've had trouble expressing my feelings through words. I feel like other people just assume that I'm "someone who doesn't think about anything" unless I express them in words. Still, I feel like I've been able to connect with others and society by creating things.
I create with the idea in mind that we all have words in our hearts, even if we don't put them into words.
Awards: Selected for the Japan Craft Exhibition, Japan Craft Exhibition, Asahi Contemporary Craft Exhibition, ART DECORATION 2023 410 Gallery Award, Brain Brunn Art Award 2023 Grand Prize, 11th Dynamic Contemporary Artists Exhibition Grand Prize, Kankaku Exhibition #1 Kankaku Award, Independent Tokyo 2023 Kamiya Takahisa Award, 12th Dynamic Contemporary Artists Exhibition Special Award, 100 People 10 Selection
Kenji Moroi
Solo Exhibition
My prayers
2024.2/22(thu)-2/27(tue)
Kenji Moroi creates plastic sculptures of people with unique shapes and costumes, exuding a somewhat sacred air. Looking back on his 10th year as an artist, he will be exhibiting works that express in various forms the "prayers" and "wishes" that arise between his daily life and his work.
Kenji Moroi
Born in Saga on March 29, 1988
[Major awards received]
Selected for the 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Nitten Exhibitions, Selected as a Special Selection for the 10th Nitten Exhibition and Nitten Exhibition Associate Exhibition
Nana Solo Exhibition
Heart - Shape, Color, Song
2023.12/23(Sat)-12/26(Tue)
35TH LEE KOOHA's
ONE MAN SHOW
PATINA-Blooms
2023.8.3-8/8