TARO SHINODA

Taka Ishii Gallery is pleased to present Homo sapiens sapiens, a solo exhibition by Taro Shinoda from October 3 to November 2. This exhibition marks Shinoda’s first solo presentation at Taka Ishii Gallery, and presents the film piece LRTT (Lunar Reflection Transmission Technique), a current and ongoing project which Shinoda began in 2007, alongside a series of approximately 21 new paintings.

LRTT (Lunar Reflection Transmission Technique), is comprised of film footage of the moon shot from respective locations in Istanbul, Boston and Tokyo. Shinoda appropriates the subject matter of the moon; the single observable satellite from various areas of the earth, in order to realize the sensation that mankind collectively shares this planet. He involves himself in the production of works with an inverted concept at their origin; that we do not look at the moon, but it is in fact the moon that looks upon us. The moon which we look at reveals itself in various forms depending on the location in which we gaze upon it – in order to raise this issue, Shinoda creates paintings through observing the moon in various locations through an astronomical telescope. Selecting a pure white aluminium plate as the base medium, the works are subject to multiple superscriptions and though portraying an abstract dimension, express the diversity of the appearances of the moon. In exhibiting the astronomical telescope used for the production of the works further to the presentation of the film and the paintings, the artist hopes to introduce the entirety of his project.

Shinoda was born in Tokyo in 1964 and has since continued to base his practice in Tokyo. In considering the theme of a “new relationship between human beings and nature,” Shinoda, until the present, has continued to create works with an interest in the bodies of human beings; further expanding to the earth and the universe which envelopes them. He has held solo exhibitions in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2009), REDCAT (Los Angeles, 2005), and the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art (2002). Shinoda has also participated in multiple international exhibitions including SCULPTURE GARDEN (COLLABORATIVE PROJECT) / KAZ OSHIRO / TARO SHINODA, Las Cienegas Projects (Los Angeles, 2011), SENSING NATURE, Mori Art Museum (2010), the Istanbul Biennial (2007), and the Busan Biennale.