Photo by Silvia Ros
SEIZAN Gallery is excited to announce our inaugural participation to Expo Chicago, open from April 11th through 14th at Navy Pier in Chicago, IL. The gallery will present recent works by Hiroyoshi Asaka, Alexa Hoyer, and Toshiyuki Kajioka.
Hiroyoshi Asaka (b. 1977, Osaka, Japan) presents his signature series of marble sculptures meticulously rendered to represent blocks of Styrofoam. The artist plays on the drama and surprise of these contrasting opposites, Styrofoam and marble. Asaka intrigues viewers and challenges conventional views on materiality and representation. Despite the lightness and disposability depicted with the subject matter, the marble sculptures are hand-carved entirely by Asaka. This showcases the artist’s conceptual interests as well as his masterful skill as a stone carver.
Alexa Hoyer (b. Hamburg, Germany) is a NYC-based Visual Artist working in photography. For Chicago Expo, Hoyer will present work from her ongoing series “Targets,” featuring homemade gun targets in the Nevada desert. The artist traveled to unregulated shooting sites adjacent to Las Vegas, where people shoot recreationally, bringing random everyday items — wood cut-outs, plastic containers, and signs — to use as targets, then left behind, riddled with bullet holes. The "found" assemblages are framed and "shot" again by Hoyer with her camera. The result is unsettling with dark humor and surprising whimsy. The targets resemble readymade sculptures or anti-shrines to mass consumerism, environmental crisis, and American gun culture.
Toshiyuki Kajioka (b. 1978, Tokyo, Japan) presents new work from his “Riverscape” series. The monolithic black paintings are rendered with meticulous brushwork in sumi ink and graphite on Japanese washi paper. The series has been the artist’s life work for the last twenty years. Every evening, Kajioka walks to the waterfront in his neighborhood and observes flowing water until sunrise. Back in the studio he recreates images from his memories of the flowing water. Some are calm, others are aggressive. Kajioka’s paintings capture time and being in the transcendental wilderness.
Navy Pier in the Festival Hall
600 E Grand Ave
Chicago IL 60611
Thursday, April 11, 12-9pm (VIP Preview)
Friday, April 12, 11am-7pm
Saturday, April 13, 11am-7pm
Sunday, April 14, 11am-6pm
Please email to info@seizan-gallery.com for any inquiries.
Photos by Silvia Ros
Alexa Hoyer Cone with Balloons and Hose, 2017 Edition of 10, 2 AP Archival Pigment Print 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm) SE-1474
Toshiyuki Kajioka Tokoyami / Everlasting Darkness, 2024 Sumi Ink, pencil on Japanese paper (Kochi Mashi) mounted on wood panel 63.8 x 63.8 x 1.5 in (162 x 162 x 3.8 cm) SE-1957