VITALFISH
Skeleton in the closet
September 27th — October 19th, 2024
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Opening Friday, September 27th from 4:00 - 6:30pm

Wada Garou Tokyo is pleased to announce our first solo exhibition Skeleton in the closet by VITALFISH.

In our societies, the majority is often seen as the social standard and those who are seen as deviating from this standard are seen as minorities. In many cases, minorities are seen as wrong or in need of correction, and their existence is made transparent.

​In this exhibition, the gallery space is transformed into a wardrobe into which the viewer enters in search of the skeleton. The title 'Skeleton in the closet' is a foreign proverb meaning 'a secret you don't want people to see', with the closet as the norm in contemporary society and the skeleton as a metaphor for a transparent existence. This integral act of visualizing and recognizing a transparency of existence encourages people to think proactively about issues they have been watching from the sidelines.

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​ARTIST STATEMENT

​The focus of my work is the subject and the other, the essential and the non-essential.

Since childhood I have had a problem with the gap between the ideal image that others have of me and my self-image. On the one hand, I may feel safe taking on roles assigned by others. But this is an act of choosing to become an 'other' without reciprocity, making myself an unessential 'object' that torments me.

My creation aims to make visible people who have been objectified and made transparent, thus transforming spectators into subjects and creating a gradual solidarity. I go on making work to transform our society into a place where we can love ourselves and live as essential at all times. 
 

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PROFILE
VITALFISH (b.1996, Tokyo)
2016 Admitted to the Department of Crafts at Tokyo University of the Arts
2021 Started making self-taught oil paintings.
2022 BA, Tokyo University of the Arts
2023 Accepted Idemitsu Art Award 2023

 
Selected exhibitions:
2024　Jimbocho ‘Cat's Bookshelf’ mini solo exhibition of cats and books
             IAG ARTIST SELLECTION Ikebukuro Kaiyuha Art Exhibition 2024
             Kinosumi Artspace - First exhibition
2023　Idemitsu Art Award展 2023
             Geidai Myth - GEISHIN
             Living with Traces - Art and food exhibition
             in a 90-year-old former noodle shop
2022　MET“Y”AVERSE
             The 70th Tokyo University of the Arts Graduation Works Exhibition
2019　The exhibition of craft works by seven students of Tokyo University of the Arts
2017　About one.

Untitled　 H890×W615, oil on canvas, 2024

INFORMATION
A solo exhibition by VITALFISH　-Skeleton in the closet-
September 27th – October 19, 2024
Opening Friday, September 27th from 4:00-6:30pm
Tuesday to Saturday 1:00 - 6:30
 
WADA GAROU TOKYO Lab.
Matsuzawa 8 Bldg. 3F, 3-5-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061