Éi Kaneko  WORKS ON PAPER

2019.11.30 - 2019.12.24

(Left Image) Untitled (Noodles & Cigarettes)　2019　Pencil on Paper　475x360mm
(Right Image) When All Else Fails　2019　Pencil on Paper　440x350mm

 Ei Kaneko (b.1983 Tokyo, Japan) constructs graphite drawings of juxtaposing images, most of which he finds online or in printed matter. Featuring sharp contrasts and angles, the layered graphite gives off an uncanny glow that presides over the assembled compositions. While the depicted images and titles offer no solid narrative, the artist focuses more on the gaze, deconstructing ways of perception and the many aspects that affect how we decipher an image. These figurative drawings are thus abstract, depicting the transition and shifting of the gaze as the image unfolds into something entirely new.

 Manual labor plays a part in the reading of these works, adding depth of time and highlighting tthese assemblages beyond mere sporadic creations. The distinctive black he applies to some works weighs heavy, as though the images were carved into stone. Although collage is an integral part of the process of Kaneko’s practice, his deliberate choice to draw the composition rather than leave it as a collage, is a statement in favor of viewing the image as a whole, rather than understanding it as overlaid individual image fragments.