A2Z Art Gallery is pleased to present the solo exhibition "Choosing a New Me" of the Japanese artist Tatsuhito Horikoshi.
Tatsuhito takes us on a journey where quests for identity and staging of oneself in the theatre of our lives. Like in the video game, Tatsuhito creates on different "avatars" of himself in a melancholic and childish universe. His paintings, which can be interpreted as candid, can sometimes convey dark and intense messages.
Inspired by animation, comics, and manga, Tatsuhito develops his obsessions while questioning contemporary Japanese society. According to the artist, in Japan the social pressure is harsh and the difference between others is little or not accepted. This is why the freedom of the Japanese evolves more in a virtual universe mingled with social networks and video games, generating a space where each being can be anonymous and unrestrained.
The colourful and pastel hues of Tatsuhito Horikoshi’s works contain the artists’s torments concealed beneath the angelic faces of young in constantly utopian scenes. These avatars are like multiple self-portraits of the artists, sometimes angels, ghosts, knights, friends, or simple sons…In accordance with the title of the exhibition, each person is assigned a role such as a strong man or a model son. Thus, this allusion to the world of video games allows Tatsuhito to experiment with different identities in order to seek a new self:
“The titles contain titles such as angel, ghost, knight, friend, son, etc.
In games, for example, you can select different characters.
That's where I got my inspiration from. The expression of the cartoon-style characters is familiar to me and feels real, and is suitable for expressing the mood of the era around me."
In this new exhibition, the artist showcases a new series of pictorial works, which refer to the titles of the order of rank or social class. The artist feels the human being is classified by titles. Therefore, their actions and components occur unconsciously through these distinctions, in a continuous search for their inner beings. However, even if we spontaneously think that playing with identity is simple for artists, for Tatsuhito it represents a fight against himself, even a victory against the sterility of his thoughts. So he always wonders if one day he will find his true self:
“I always wonder if I’m playing someone else’s role. My desire to change myself also plays a role.”
