Apr 6 (Thu.) – May 6(Sat.), 2023

Hours: 11:00-19:00 (Closed on SUN, MON, and holidays)

Venue: tagboat

The Parklex Ningyocho 1F, 7-1 Nihonbashi-Tomizawacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0006

We are pleased to announce “IDEAL RED,” a solo exhibition by contemporary artist Naho Ishii at the newly opened tagboat in Ningyocho.Born in Tokyo in 1991, Naho Ishii began her artistic career in 2011, the year of the Great East Japan Earthquake. She debuted in a group exhibition at Takashi Murakami’s gallery Hidari Zingaro and has since expanded her activities ambitiously, participating in exhibitions at art museums and festivals.Through her use of various mediums, Ishii expresses a vision that overlaps contemporary society’s structure with the universe’s fundamental structure. She continually ponders and questions the structure of the urbanizing human condition.Her work exudes a powerful life force, evoking the multiplying and proliferating cells within the human body.This marks Ishii’s second solo exhibition at tagboat, where many of her new works will be on display and available for purchase. We invite you to come and experience her works, which emit a precise and overwhelming presence.

PROFILE

石井七歩　Naho Ishii

Born in Tokyo in 1991, Ishii lives and works in the city.

She has an intense fascination with fractal shapes and creates patterned drawings on all-over screens, as well as paintings that convey a biological impression, often featuring the color red.

Following the 2011 earthquake, Ishii began producing and exhibiting detailed monochrome drawings. Her works explore the clash between the unthinking proliferation of man-made buildings and abstract objects that represent the natural order, which she depicts on the same canvas. She calls this “the blueprint of a basic worldview” and has consistently explored it in her work.

From 2018 onward, Ishii started incorporating the color red, reminiscent of blood, into her works. She has produced an increasing number of all-over paintings featuring minimalist elements that multiply, resulting in a more pronounced biological impression.

Ishii draws inspiration from the abstract realm of the mind and focuses on capturing the essential structure of what she sees rather than superficial imitation. While she has experimented with various methods of expression, Ishii’s unyielding pursuit of the essential structures of things ensures that she will never stop creating art.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016 Broken Tokyo (Nakagin Capsule Tower/Ginza)
2018 Her name is Metropolis (Hankyu MEN’S Tokyo / Ginza)
2020 ESCAPE (tagboat gallery / Ginza)

Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 Dojima River Biennale (Dojima River Forum / Osaka)
2012 HYPER ARCHIPELAGO- Worldview of Architects/Artists of Post 3.11 (EYE OF GYRE/Omotesando)
2012 Hyper Archipelago – Light of Silence (Aomori Museum of Art/Aomori)
2012 Artists Agito (Hidarizingaro/Tokyo)
2012 Artists’ Agito 2 (GEISAIgallery/Tokyo)
2012 “Girl in the Void World”, FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, Ginza

2013 VOCA Exhibition (The Ueno Royal Museum/Ueno)
2013 AKIHABARA MONTPARNASSE (GEISAIgarally/Tokyo)
2013 Intolerance World (GallaryPONCOTAN/Sapporo)
2018 TOKYO ILLUSION (Dali Art Plaza, Taiwan)
2018 Break Zenya (Bunkamura Gallary/Shibuya)
2019 INTERPRETATIONS, TOKYO, organized by Dries Van Noten (Hara Museum of Contemporary Art/Tokyo)
2019 Art Liberation Zone (TENOHA Daikanyama/Tokyo)
2020 TAGBOAT x Hyaku Kaidan (Hotel Gajoen Tokyo)
2020 Daikanyama NOEL Art Liberation Zone (TENOHA Daikanyama/Tokyo)
2021 CORE part2 (tagboat gallery/Ginza)
2022 Art Liberation Zone (Mitsukoshimae Fukushima Building/Tokyo)
2022 Hyaku Kaidan 2022 (Hotel Gajoen Tokyo)
2022 CORE part12 (tagboat gallery /Ginza)

Selected Art Festivals
2017 Roppongi Art Night (Roppongi/Tokyo)
2018 Dogo Onsen Art (Dogo Onsen town / Ehime)

Selected Art Fairs
2021 TAGBOAT ART SHOW × Hankyu MEN’S TOKYO (Hankyu Men’s Tokyo/Tokyo)
2022 tagboat Art Fair 2022 (Port City Takeshiba/Tokyo)
2022 Art Fair GINZA (Ginza Mitsukoshi/Tokyo)
2022 Art Fair HAKATA (Hakata Hankyu / Fukuoka)

Selected Awards
2012 GEISAI#16, Iida Takayo Award
2017 Independent Tokyo 2017, Tsutomu Ikeuchi Award and others
2018 Book illustration, “Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics” by Timothy Morton
2019 Binding art for “iHuman: Organism-Human-Machine in the Age of AI” by Kawamoto Hideo and Inagaki Satoshi
2020 Book illustration, “Media Literacy of Corona Disaster” by VERY magazine

Media Appearances
2011 TOKYO FM “FM Art Dojo”
2017 BS Fuji ” Break Zenya”

2017 Asahi Shimbun Digital Special”I want to make friends after 500 years” Female artist in her 20s who continues to draw the city after dropping out of art school in 3 months
2019 BS TV Tokyo “#1604 WEST MEETS EAST – Visiting Designers Special”
2022 Nippon TV “Muteki Class”
2022 TV Asahi “Kamai Gachi”