About the artwork:
The artist created this image on a found canvas, which he frequently acquires from Internet auctions. Otani often selects a particular object because it contains an enigmatic mark he finds attractive or a symbol, such as a sun or a hand. Then, the artist uses colored pencils to erase excess information and obscure any distinctive marks on the chosen canvas. The resulting work reminds Otani of the feeling he gets when "seeing an abandoned billboard for a brief moment while driving down a national road, [which] somehow you cannot get it out of your head.”
About the artist:
Toru Otani creates his works on unconventional materials like the backside of sandpaper, empty cigarette packages and vintage maps. Many of the foundational materials used in his practice – such as prewar textbooks, used notes and postcards – are acquired from online auctions. Otani then uses colored pencils to erase and obscure any identifying marks on these chosen canvases, creating images akin to abandoned billboards.
BIO:
Toru Otani was born in 1988 in Kanagawa, Japan. In 2015, he received a MFA from Tokyo University of the Arts in Tokyo, Japan. He received a BFA from the same institution in 2013.
Solo exhibitions of Otani’s work include: spctrum at Imlabor in Tokyo, Japan; planet at Kodama Gallery in Tokyo, Japan; and Casablanca at Kodama Gallery in Kyoto, Japan.
Group exhibitions that have shown Otani’s work include: Busy Work at Home at Nonaka-Hill in Los Angeles, California; Speculation⇄Real at Kodama Gallery in Tokyo, Japan; Chain Reaction at Kodama Gallery in Tokyo, Japan; Use at Kodama Gallery in Tokyo, Japan; Mud, Tokyo and swimming at Park Tower Hall Gallery1 in Tokyo, Japan; Landscape Space at Kodama Gallery in Tokyo, Japan; and After Appropriation at Kodama Gallery in Tokyo, Japan.
Otani lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.
Specs:
The artist created this image on a found canvas, using colored pencils to erase the original surface's information and obscure its distinctive marks. The resulting work reminds Otani of the feeling he gets when "seeing an abandoned billboard for a brief moment while driving down a national road."More
- Unframed
- Signed
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