ART IN TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN VOL.21
2022/6/20-7/20
Soaring windows in deeply recessed rear alcoves; high walls partitioning the space but leaving unobstructed views; a ceiling whose presence has become ambiguous and inorganic concrete pillars; wooden floors given further refinement and character; outdoor light coming in through guazy silk curtains from a wide-open southwestern window. This compelling interior-design store space draws out creators’ curiosity and artistic expression.
Time & Style Midtown celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Since its launch, its store concept has developed partly as a setting for art exhibitions. Having said that, the space is nothing like an art gallery—nor is it merely an approximation of stylish interiors. Instead of elevating art to the realm of the extraordinary, the exhibits have always been created from the perspective of presenting art to visitors as something dropped into the space like an everyday scene from ordinary life. Counting small events and unannounced experimental shows, a total of 66 exhibits have been held here over the past 15 years. Among them is the special series ART IN TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN, in which artists have firmly engaged with this difficult but intriguing space, determined to present something compelling in the unique setting. This exhibition is the 21st in that series.
“ART IN TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN VOL. 21: A CERTAIN FORM” is an exhibition of works by Kazue Okada. Informed by pictorial concepts and working in concord with spaces, this artist discovers and shows forms that are neither “paintings” nor “sculptures” while confronting the challenges of each specific setting. A living scene with a wide sofa; a dining scene with a large, impressive wooden table; a bookshelf with an orderly, library-like array of books covering an entire wall—various made-to-order scenes, and a variety of furnishings and implements connecting one scene to another. With all these shapes, colors and impressions as creative clues, the “certain forms” captured by Okada are dropped into the exhibition venue.
What will occur within the Time & Style Midtown space and the works created by Okada through the clues this space provides? We hope you’ll come and see for yourself.
(Banana Art)
Kazue OKADA Profile
1976 Born in Tokyo
2003 Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Tokyo University of the Arts
2003 – 2006 Managed the independently run “Studio ONO” (Sagami-Ono, Kanagawa)
2005 Completed the graduate course in oil painting at Tokyo University of the Arts
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Principal exhibitions
2000 “Perspective to that Person” / gallery art soko (Shimotakaido, Tokyo)
2001 “SPACE BATTLE” / gallery art soko (Shimotakaido, Tokyo)
Solo exhibition: “Kazue Okada” / mixed media (Shizuoka)
2003 “green.space2_licht/schatten” / Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (Weimar, Germany)
2004 “Beyond the Steam” / Daikokuyu (Nippori, Tokyo)
Festa Furuuchi in Sagami-Ono / Studio ONO (Sagami-Ono, Kanagawa)
2005 “ROSA! The Exposed Colour – Pink” / Chinretsukan Gallery (Tokyo University of the Arts, Ueno campus)
2006 “Shimuchiguhagu” / Studio ONO (Sagami-Ono, Kanagawa)
“Four Artists” / Studio ONO (Sagami-Ono, Kanagawa)
2007 “Saihakken!” Gokiso Brick Warehouse, Downtown Exhibition in Joso City (Ibaraki)
2008 “Each Landscape” / former Hotoku Bank” Downtown Exhibition in Joso City (Ibaraki)
“Fukei in Landscape” / Kansuke Naka Literature Memorial (Shizuoka)
2009 “’5×2’ part 2 – Women Only” / Gendai HEIGHTS Gallery DEN&.ST (Tokyo)
“Unchanging Things…” / Gokiso Brick Warehouse, Downtown Exhibition in Joso City (Ibaraki)
“ART in TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN Vol. 8” / TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN (Roppongi, Tokyo)
2010 “Reishiki” / O JUN Residence (Tokyo)
2011 “SCENE 1” / TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN (Roppongi, Tokyo)
“Town + Artist =” / Nakayama Atelier, Downtown Exhibition in Joso City (Ibaraki)
“Itazu Litho-Grafik Collection + Kazue Okada New Lithographs” / The Artcomplex Center Tokyo (Shinjuku, Tokyo)
2012 “SCENE 2” / TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN (Roppongi, Tokyo)
“FOURSIXTY EXHIBITION” / Nagoya Citizens’ Gallery Yada (Aichi)
“Attempt 4” / Museum Haus Kasuya (Kinugasa, Kanagawa)
2013 Solo exhibition: “Kazue Okada” / See Saw Gallery (Nagoya)
“Bonsai: TIME & STYLE + Kato Manseien” / TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN (Roppongi, Tokyo)
2014 “TIME & STYLE RESIDENCE Itazu Litho-Grafik – ‘Color Walls II’” /
TIME & STYLE RESIDENCE (Futakotamagawa, Tokyo)
“Itazukushi” / See Saw Gallery (Nagoya)
“MITSUKOSHI + Geidai, Summer Art Festival 2014 Exhibition featuring young artists of the next generation” / Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi (Nihonbashi, Tokyo)
“Unknown Nature – Unknown Series No. 5” / Ayumi Gallery (Kagurazaka, Tokyo)
2017 Akiko Suso Summer Hat Exhibition – “Movement of the earth’s crust” / DEE’S HALL (Omotesando, Tokyo)
2019 Group Show of Contemporary Artists 2019 – “HETEROTOPIA” / Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Ueno, Tokyo)
2020 “Continuing Form” – RenRen / TIME & STYLE MIDTOWN (Roppongi, Tokyo)
“Driving Force + Art Orque” / Brick-One (Tokyo)
Solo exhibition: “Line and Depth” / See Saw Gallery (Nagoya)
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Competitions
2014-2016 Hokkaido Higashikawa Elementary School Artwork Competition – Workshop Creation with Higashikawa elementary students / Higashikawa Elementary School, Asahikawa (Hokkaido) – collaborative project with TIME & STYLE
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Works in permanent collections
2003 In Park an der llm, Goethes Gartenhaus, Herdergarten Weimar (Weimar, Germany)
2016 In Hokkaido Higashikawa Elementary School
Others
Tokyo Midtown Galleria 3F, 9-7-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-0052 Japan
Tel：03-5413-3501
Fax：03-5413-3502
Open：11:00 – 20:00