Edward Cella Art & Architecture is proud to present Mirage, a sixty-three-foot-long installation of free-standing paintings by Jun Kaneko. Comprised of a suite of nine canvas panels--each nine by seven feet--Kaneko's poured application of acrylic becomes sculptural and offers a hypnotic journey through the color spectrum which defies the two-dimensional limits of the surface. Through repetition and subtle variation, Mirage is simultaneously active and meditative, conjuring feelings of infinite expanse through indivisible fields of line and color. Mirage offers a framework through which to experience Kaneko's masterfully orchestrated interplay of form, scale, surface, and setting. Building on the artist's pioneering accomplishments pushing the scale and technical limits of the medium, Mirage envelops the viewer and expands the vocabulary of his mark-making. Elemental in their simplicity, Kaneko's works evoke complex experiential shifts through the most minimal of means. It is this understated interaction of form and method that brings Kaneko's works to life, particularly when on a monumental scale.
ABOUT JUN KANEKO
Known for his experimental and innovative work in ceramics and painting, Kaneko has redefined what is physically and aesthetically possible for the medium, challenging the parameters of both its scale and materiality. Using labor-intensive processes, his ceramic sculptures can take up to eighteen months of drying time and can involve a thirty-seven-day firing process to perfect the surface quality of his signature glazes. His work is represented in over seventy museum collections worldwide, and he has completed over fifty major public art commissions, often on an unbelievably monumental scale. Examples include three-hundred-and-fifty-foot long tile walls at the MBTA's Aquarium Station in Boston, MA (1993-2000), and a three story high ceramic wall in the biology library at The University of Connecticut (1997). Most recently, Kaneko installed Ascent, a fifty-six-foot tall glass tower in the center of Tower Square in Lincoln, NE (2014), and an installation of his iconic closed-form Dangos and Tanukis in Millennium Park in Chicago, IL (2013).
In addition to his civic projects and large-scale public commissions, Kaneko has also designed memorable theatrical sets for Opera, which create immersive spatial environments based on the motifs and patterns he explores throughout his work. Productions have included Puccini's Madame Butterfly (2006, 2016), Beethoven's Fidelio (2008), and Mozart's The Magic Flute (2012). An upcoming production of Madame Butterfly will be performed at the Washington National Opera in May of 2017.