GALLERY KOGURE will be holding the Kaneko Takanao solo show “SLIDER” at the Kanazawa Mercury Cave.

Kaneko, born in 1977, is a painter who graduated from the Musashino Art University Junior College of Art and Design. He has held exhibitions not only in Japan but also in Taiwan, the UK, Hong Kong and other places. His works may appear to be pop street art at first glance, but they have a unique style that combines monochrome comics and elements from the 70s and 80s with graffiti, revealing a sharp perspective on contemporary society.

In the midst of a society overflowing with various things, we are often overwhelmed by excessive information and sometimes lose sight of ourselves. Words, which are supposed to be for communication, lose their meaning by repeatedly skimming only the surface, fragmenting along with the anonymity of the internet, and sometimes causing people to become violent. The daily noise of the information society intertwines with this stifling and vague anxiety that everyone cannot escape from, accumulating at an incredible speed even though it is not visible.

Kaneko depicts this situation with his unique style that combines motifs learned from characters, manga, comics and the context of street art. The characters that appear in his works are like monsters, representing the transformation of humans, possessing an existence like a “tsukumogami” which is a kind of Japanese folk monster, and expressing the saturation of information itself.

Kaneko portrays uncertain and ambiguous forms, whether they have meaning or not, in a cool and humorous manner. This exhibition, his first solo exhibition in Kanazawa, will feature new works. We invite you to come and see his unique world at Kanazawa Mercury Cave.

Artist Official Page
Takanao Kaneko

Showing concurrently
Kishi Omori solo show -SIDE VIEW- @Kanazawa Mercury Cave 1F