Yuya Hashizume — Eyewater:London, Monochrome — A Solo Show

PRESS RELEASE
Yuya Hashizume Eyewater:London, Monochrome
The Waluso Gallery,
63 Hanbury Street, E1 5JP
12 November — 26 November 2020

Yuya Hashizume’s debut European show at The Waluso Gallery, ‘Eyewater: London, Monochrome, marks the rising popularity and cult collection of the Artist. The Solo Show is named after the Artist’s perception of his influence in Europe explaining that:

“This will be the first exhibition I have ever held in Europe.

I don’t think that anyone who lives in London knows my work, as I have only ever exhibited my Eyewater Series in Japan. My image of Europe is more Monochrome than colourful and so I tried to create a show in black and white.”

Much like the grey areas of an unexplored region in a video game, Hashizume’s Monochrome collection is both mysterious and intriguing. The bursts of pure colour that are often to be found in previous shows are gone, replaced with signature imagery that is muted, but only in colour. The Monochrome element of the works strengthens the classic and often signatory style of Hashizume, the single tear that is often found in the corner of the eyes of his painted icons. While the tear has many connotations, the most commonly attributed analogy is that the tear is symbolic of
suppressed sadness.

Whilst the figures Hashizume paints are striking beautiful, the tear that hangs from the corner of their eyes is a gateway to understanding pain, sorrow and anguish that lives in side all of us. The imagery is indicative of true feeling and true self, and the viewer can often mistake the works as mirrors, showing our own emotions mirrored in the artwork. The emotions that the works evoke are strengthened by the moodiness and brooding nature that the Monochrome brings. Influenced heavily by Fujiko Fujio’s “Doraemon” manga series, this solo show continues to capture the viewers imagination, seamlessly.

Born 1983 in Okayama, Japan, Hashizume has over ten years of experience in making illustrative Art. Yuya debuted with his solo exhibition “eyewater” in 2017 and later held exhibitions in various cities in Japan, Thailand and South Korea to date. His works have quickly gained the attention and resonance from many collectors, which makes him one of the most notable and exciting
emerging young artists in Japan.