No answers, just keep looking. A group exhibition of contemporary art focusing on individual craftsmanship opens at Gallery B.

In this day and age, everyone is immediately looking for the right answer using Internet searches and AI. We feel secure in knowing what someone else has created as the correct answer, but we seem to have somewhat lost the need to think about whether this is actually the correct answer for us and our individual thoughts.

On a slightly different note, in the world of contemporary art, there is a major trend worldwide for works that emphasize concepts as a way to raise issues for society. In response to this trend of correct answers for the current era, "B GALLERY" is going to hold a group exhibition, "Absurdists from the Ivory Tower," focusing on contemporary artists who continue to hone their skills and pursue original expression through their personal cultural backgrounds.

The five participating artists are Minori Ogawa, TENGAone, Emika Hosoi, Takehito Masui, and Takahiro Miyahara, who will serve as the exhibition's director. Below is an enthusiastic comment by Mr. Miyahara.

How has contemporary art evolved and been linked to its social context, under the influence of formalism and Fordism? Pop art actively embraced the consumer society and directly linked art to commercial values. This trend toward commercialization led to the expansion of the art market and the growth of a global commercial gallery system, allowing artists to express themselves and produce work in response to market demands. How can artists capture and visualize the world in the midst of accelerating technological innovation and the loss of technical uniqueness? Whereas in the past labor was subordinated to material production, today, non-material production, i.e., communication with people and connection with society, is at the core of the new labor. The labor nature of art, which minimal art exposed, has also been exposed through conceptual art, etc. Intellectual labor and dematerialization have made mass production possible, even for artistic aura. At the same time, this trend can also be seen as a "de-artification" as a reaction against dematerialization and commercialism. This is also related to a reevaluation of colonial art. Through its complex relationship with commercialism and the global marketplace, colonial art offers a new perspective on contemporary art, emphasizing cultural identity and dialogue. In an age when art has transformed from a mere visual experience into something that conveys social and political messages, when machines have replaced physical exertion and artificial intelligence can supplement even intellectual labor, what does humanity make of art?
Is art dead? Perhaps it can be reduced to a prehistoric play. Based on labor and technology in art or its social and cultural context, I would like to try to put the initiative of production back in the hands of the artist.

In conjunction with this exhibition, "Magician's Encounter #3 Absurdists from the Ivory Tower" will also be co-hosted at the art gallery of "Isetan Shinjuku" There will be a gallery tour on February 15 (Sat) at 16:00, so those interested should take a look.