Text Yukihisa Takei

Seeking a way to express the 'symbol'' in the modern society with neon tubes

Gallery COMMON, a gallery that has been actively presenting exciting art exhibitions one after the other, has announced their next exhibition, titled 'Afterimage', a solo exhibition by neon artist Waku.

Born in 1996, Waku is a young artist focusing on the exploration of neon light, and says that as a child he had his turning point to become a neon artist by having seen a shining Buddha in the main hall of a Buddhist temple,as his family originated from a Buddhist temple.

Waku. Untitled. 2022. 8mm glass tubes, argon gas, aluminum, wood. h2110 x w2110 x d70 mm.
Photo by Yosuke Torii. Courtesy of Gallery COMMON.

He started his career as a neon artist in 2017 and then moved to New York. He has worked for the renowned neon artist Tayvit Ablon, who also created artwork for Nam June Paik. After returning to Japan, he set up the neon sign studio 'gokou' and has started pursuing his artistic activity since then.

For this solo exhibition 'Afterimage', Waku has focused on iconic and materialistic consumer society symbols. He tried to compress those consumer society symbols that everyone knows into abstract forms and transform them into motifs to focus on light.

However, he found out that those motifs are still recognisable even though they have become almost illegible. While accepting that fact, the artist calls these firm and unbreakable symbols as 'robust signs' and developed them into motifs for this solo exhibition.

Waku. Untitled. 2022. 8mm glass tubes, argon gas, aluminum, wood. h1400×w1000×d70 mm.
Photo by Yosuke Torii. Courtesy of Gallery COMMON.

Waku. Untitled. 2022. 8mm glass tubes, argon gas, aluminum, wood. h1400×w1245×d70 mm.
Photo by Yosuke Torii. Courtesy of Gallery COMMON.

The neon works, based on symbols that are somehow familiar but transformed into new forms, will remind people that they are a part of society.

［INFORMATION］

WAKU Solo Exhibition ‘Afterimage’
Venue: Gallery COMMON B1F, 5-39-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Dates: October 15 - November 13 *Closed on Monday and Tuesday)

［CONTACT］

Gallery COMMON
TEL : 03-6427-3827
contact@gallerycommon.com
www.gallerycommon.com