WAKO WORKS OF ART is pleased to present a two-person exhibition by Takeshi Masada and Tomohito Ishii, two young painters who are in the gallery’s selective “from/to” program. Initiated in the summer of 2004, “from/to” strives to introduce young Japanese artists and to provide them with a platform for their creativity. This exhibition will include new works on canvas by both artists.

Currently living and working in Osaka, Masada was one of the artists in the gallery’s inaugural “from/to #1” exhibition. In his work, Masada carries out a breakdown of images into bold brushstrokes in vivid colors that emphasize the materiality of paint and surface. The highly deliberate selection of everyday subjects derived from the media reflects his intricate relationship to the art and the history of painting.

A recent graduate of the Musashino Art University Graduate School’s Painting course, Ishii was selected to exhibit in “from/to #3” which took place in Summer 2005. After studying and internalizing landscape photographs that he himself has taken, he converts the signals from the images and transfers them onto canvas using swatches of brushstrokes. From the same landscape, he creates works that are both abstract and figurative, and in carrying out this process, Ishii creates a personal link between the acts of seeing and painting.