Kyoto based artist Teppei Kaneuji creates bizarre multimedia works that examine the mass consumption of his culture. He is perhaps best known for his Manga-inspired characters made of objects like plastic food, toys, scissors, and furniture parts. This is a fascination that has followed him since childhood, when he enjoyed playing with blocks and putting together everyday objects. Opening September 10th, Kaneuji will make his US solo exhibition debut at Jane Lombard Gallery in New York with “Deep Fried Ghost”. The exhibit showcases the artist’s five most notable series from 2002 through today: “White Discharge”, “Muddy Steam from a Mug”, “Teenage Fan Club”, “Ghost in the Liquid Room”, and “Games, Dance, Constructions, (Soft Toys)”, in addition to new pieces created for the show.
As a part of his creative process, Kanueji sets rules for himself. For example, he only used removeable hair from figurines in “Teenage Fan Club”. He has said that his assemblages represent his strange sense of reality, a state of things in constant flux and simultaneously related. In his popular “White Discharge” series, for instance, he pours white resin over a cluster of objects representing a snow-covered city, an extension of the people who build it. Each piece imitates the building of structures, but through the artist’s removal and addition of things, he gives new meaning to the objects. Walking the line between dreamy and nightmarish, Kaneuji revels in the absurdity of his works, even if his audience may not understand it. Overall, they encourage us to reconsider how we use the things in our daily life, and their suitability to our needs and desires.
“Deep Fried Ghost” byTeppei Kaneuji will be on view at Jane Lombard Gallery from September 10th through October 17th, 2015.