“… A real frog is exactly what I am. A product neither of metaphor nor allusion nor deconstruction nor sampling nor any other such complex process, I am a genuine frog. Shall I croak for you?”
- Haruki Murakami, Super-Frog Saves Tokyo
Hop up to the 3rd floor and discover the latest exhibitions at SUPERFROG Gallery, providing a direct link to emerging artists that draw their inspiration from Japanese popular culture. See Photos >>
9.17 (Fri) – 11.28 (Sun) Extended!
Ken Hamazaki
Grateful Red
Opening Reception with Artist
Friday, September 17: Private reception + Media Preview @ 6pm
Saturday, September 18: Opening 11am | Tea Performance 3-5pm
SUPERFROG Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition “Grateful Red” with Osaka-based artist, Ken Hamazaki opening during J-Pop Summit. Taking the name from the free-spirited Bay Area band, the Grateful Dead, Hamazaki uses this sense of freedom to twist traditional Japanese ceremonies and ancient techniques to other worlds of imagination and experience. Behind every element in this RED show, you will enter his personal dream world.
Making his way to San Francisco from Burning Man, Hamazaki will be performing an avant garde Japanese Tea Ceremony in the gallery on September 18th and at an off-site location leading up to the Festival. As this tradition demonstrates the pinnacle of Japanese zen, its delicacies, and form, the artist channels them through his own pop guise and serves recipes for titillation in “Red Tea Ceremony – YOU ARE GOD”. We look forward to bringing you his unique energy and fascinating interpretation of Japanese culture for our annual J-Pop Summit.
About the Exhibition
Ken Hamazaki named the exhibition “Grateful Red” out of thankfulness to the RED, and also out of respect for the legendary band “Grateful Dead”, which is closely connected to San Francisco. The series of red-on-red canvases with the iconography of the Grateful Dead barely painted on the surface require direct engagement in up close, in person to see the tonal image. It is like a stealth aircraft which will not appear in visual spectrum in the art world.
Hamazaki says that The Grateful Dead’s appeal is its improvisational and live element. Going to their live performances, filled with their improvisational approach to music, is the best way to experience them. You can say the same thing to Hamazaki’s art works in red: only way to taste them is to see them in person. Please experience Hamazaki world with all your sense at this exhibition.
The artist hopes that visitors enjoy Hamazaki’s “Red World” to the fullest at the new-born gallery which is turned into “Red Cube” We hope that this exhibition spreads “Red Heads” (Hamazaki collectors) in San Francisco!
About the Artist
With his shaved head, red body paint, and red costumes, Ken Hamazaki is known in Osaka’s Minami Senba district as “The Red Man.”
When he was twenty years old, Hamazaki traveled to England and after returning to Japan, opened a gallery to display his artwork in 1992 in Osaka’s Higashi Shinsaibashi area. In 1997, he moved the gallery to Minami Senba, painted the exterior and interior completely red and named it the Ken Hamazaki Museum of Contemporary Art, a title that, in Japanese, has the aggrandizing secondary meaning of the Hamazaki Prefectural Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition to holding exhibitions, his gallery sells interior decorative items and accessories, suggesting a fusion of art and lifestyle.
RED TEA CEREMONY:
Visual Collaboration with Hiroyuki Katayama
Sound Effect Support by Shiro Takusari
For more information, visit www.kenhamazaki.jp/e/
Artists Representation:
Exhibitions may end, but we still represent artists for a duration of time. Please contact us anytime to see artwork images and price lists. info@superfroggallery.com
