JPS Gallery is pleased to present Takuji Honda – solo exhibition of T9G at our Tokyo location. The exhibition will feature a series of paintings and sculptures reflecting the artist’s disapproval of societal expectations and presenting his most authentic self through the characters he creates. In addition to T9G’s exciting presentation, T9G invited seven artists—FACE, Feebee, Mai Nagamoto, Shigeki Matsuyama, Takahiro Hida (hi-dutch), Takashi Iimura (TERRIBLE WHORE), and Yusuke Hanai to each produce a piece of work featuring T9G’s characters.
We are sure to witness T9G’s signature characters Rangeas and Maskhead. Questioning the common assumption that all monsters are harmful creatures, T9G describes Rangeas as a peace-loving monster. His kind nature is further emphasised in the paintings depicting Rangeas playing with butterflies in a gentle manner. In creating this character, T9G purposely designed it to have antlers, a hard shell and claws that may seem intimidating at first glance. Despite Rangeas’s overpowering shape, it is a harmless monster who loves nature and animals and can always be seen smiling. Whilst Maskhead is a character often painted in monochrome that represents the artist himself due to his dissatisfaction and feelings of anxiety towards social norms. The only drops of colour in Maskhead’s colourless world are the new characters T9G has recently created. Such characters hold great importance to T9G’s life as they not only opened him up to the world but also made the world aware of his artistic practice. Moreover, the characters are alter egos of the artist himself and projections of various emotions.
The expression of hope and despair, happiness and sadness, and his own lived experiences continue to be ongoing themes presented through T9G’s sculptures and paintings. Living in a time where we can enhance our appearances with facial filters and photo-editing apps, what we see is often dangerously inauthentic or nothing more than a distorted narrative of someone’s life. The breadth and complexity of T9G’s visual practice, and by extension, the sincerity of his works, gives audiences a breath of fresh air whilst posing questions about human perception and the issue of continuing to uphold human-centred values in society.
JPS Gallery (Tokyo)
6 Chome-27-4 Jingumae, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan
