HRD FINE ART

Introduction

HRD Fine Art is pleased to announce the opening of a solo exhibition of Noriyori Shirakawa, titled "Light Meets Blue," from mid-November 2022 through early January 2023. The show will be the artist's second solo exhibition at the Kyoto gallery, where he last presented his solo exhibit in 2017.

Noriyori Shirakawa was born in Tokyo in 1969. Having earned his master's degree at Tokyo University of the Arts, he currently lives and works in Aichi Prefecture.

For decades, central to his creation is the use of metal leaf, such as silver and aluminum, and the depiction/expression of light on the surface of painting. Leveraging his expert knowledge in painting techniques and preservation/restoration, as well as his deep insight into the history of art and painting material, Shirakawa's artworks relate to the long tradition of painterly expression of light, both in the East and the West, which is intrinsically linked with religious and decorative aspects of art. Not stopping there, however, the artist explores the new horizon of contemporary painting, continuing his experimentation with different techniques and materials.

As the title of the exhibition suggests, the reflected light on the metallic surface and the shades of blue, evocative of the color of our planet, come together in his work to produce a sublime, harmonious painterly landscape.

In this exhibition, the artist presents novel artworks including traditional Japanese hanging screens as well as glass and ceramic sculptures. Aiming to break down the categorical boundaries, Shirakawa's exhibition is an advocacy of the richness of visual sensation, where light, colors, and materials meet up and interplay with each other.

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Artist's Statement

Light is something we all perceive intuitively.
Blue is, it is said, the first color that an unborn baby can sense within the mother's womb.
I want my artwork to be a place where these two things ─ light and blue ─ meet and begin to resonate.

- Noriyori Shirakawa