Pigment on canvas

149 x 150 x 4.5 cm.58 2/3 x 59 x 1 7/9 in.

Titled in Japanese and English, signed in English and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Mind Set Art Center, Taipei
Private Collection, Asia

Note: This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist issued by Taipei Mind Set Art Center

A Paean of Flowers, a Life of Prosperity
Interpreting Shinji Ohmaki's Echoes series

“Art is not only presenting your own world to the audience, but also presenting your own world as a space, leading the audience into this space.”
—Shinji Ohmaki

As a representative of Japanese contemporary art, in the last few years, Shinji Ohmaki has become ever more famous on the international art scene. He was noticed for the first time during the 2011 Asian Art Biennale where he showed his Echoes series. Since then, he has held exhibitions at the Singapore Art Museum and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. He also created public space art at the invitation of the dance and fashion industries. In 2018, during Art Basel, Ohmaki gained widespread attention and fame thanks to his Liminal Air. This auction features two of his masterpieces — Echoes: Crystalization (2013) (Lot 69) and Echoes Infinity: Rhizome/B (2018)(Lot 68). While appreciating the world he has created, viewers can “hear the echoes” of nature.

The Beginning of Life; the Bearer of the Spirit
Ohmaki began working on his Crystallization series in 2004, using correction fluid and crystal (colored mineral) powder which he applied to glass disks or square boxes. While working on Echoes: Crystalization, he used crystal powder to create dense floral patterns on folk fabric. In a way, the floral motif of the fabric itself is like a pigment that adds a touch of vitality to the pure white design. Born to a family of textile industry, Ohmaki was deeply impressed with the cloth dyeing techniques he witnessed at home. He hopes that a totem like this work will help to retain and revive traditional craftsmanship, as nowadays, the hand-made floral patterns are being replaced by machine-made fabrics.

The Singing of Birds and the Aroma of Flowers: Infinite Cultural Prosperity
Echoes Infinity: Rhizome/B belongs to the Rhizome series, which, just as with Echoes, is also centered on the theme of natural life. Ohmaki used colored powder to create Japanese-style flowers and bird patterns, marking a new peak of his creation in recent years. In this work, the stems are not restricted by the frame and extend infinitely around it, slightly reminiscent of the Tibetan art of sand mandalas, also created with colored powders. In order to create this piece, Ohmaki carefully selected more than 100 different types of natural minerals, pressed them into powder, and, emulating techniques of the 18th century Japanese Rinpa school, layered and glued them on the canvas, expressing a gradient of layers and colors. “In this age of globalization,” the artist himself said, “I hope that Echoes Infinity: Rhizome/B will encourage people to explore the secrets of local cultures and present them to the world in a new form.” In this work, he depicted several kinds of flowers, including peonies, Japanese morning glories, daisies, and cherry flowers growing from a single stem, symbolizing the integration of various cultures in the age of globalization and a creation of a new culture in and of itself. This work not only praises the infinite vitality of nature, but also expresses the artist's great hope and enthusiasm for cultural symbiosis and the preservation of cultural inheritance.

Price estimate:
HKD: 150,000 – 250,000
USD: 19,100 – 31,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 177,000