A smiling face fills the exhibition space. Illustrator dokkoi's solo exhibition is now being held at Gallery Gekkoku.

It is becoming an annual spring event. Illustrator.Mr. dokkoi.A solo exhibition, "THE DOKKOI SHOW -IRIE SMILES-," by the artist is currently being held at Gallery Gekkoku in Meguro.

The dokkoi style of sampling that tugs at the heartstrings of subcultures and the soothing, yet deadpan touch is alive and well again this time. Illustrations using colored pencils and crayons and acrylic canvases will fill the walls of the exhibition space, from the big stories that everyone knows to those that only those in the know know know.

This is also a good opportunity to see where dokkoi, who has been gaining momentum in recent years with his extensive client work for popular brands and musicians, stands today.

I was thinking that I should go see the exhibition soon, since it looks interesting again, when I bumped into Mr. dokkoi in the city! I was just about to go see the show when I bumped into Mr. dokkoi in town!

How to interpret and abstract it in your own way.

dokkoi
He started his career as an illustrator in 2018. In 2020, he released a zine "Unfinished Sympathy" from INNEN BOOKS in Switzerland. He is also active in the fashion scene, providing graphics for overseas fashion brands, as well as domestic brands and select stores. He has also provided illustrations for music groups such as Denki GROOVE, Kururi, and ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION.
Instagram:@dokkoi_active

Congratulations on the opening of your solo exhibition. First of all, what does the exhibition title "IRIE SMILE" mean?

I had been painting without a particular theme, but one day I looked at the finished works side by side and found that I had picked up only smiling motifs.

I was listening to reggae music a lot lately, so I decided to combine "IRIE," which means "happy" or "great" in the Patois (Jamaican dialect) language, and "SMILE," which means a smile, and came up with the name "IRIE SMILE. I decided to use "IRIE SMILE".

-The smiley face in the key visual is also IRIE and nice.

This is based on the star-spangled smiley face motif that was seen during the hippie movement of the late 60s. It was then multiplied by IRIE to create the rasta color.

You are well known for your works using colored pencils and crayons, but this time you continue to work with acrylics on canvas, right?

This time, we have drawn three new acrylic works. The motifs are based on major American comic books and popular Japanese anime.

With acrylics, I challenge myself to interpret various famous motifs in my own way and make them abstract. In particular, I think I was able to express my own unique "blurring" of the American comic motifs in this work, and I think I was able to abstract them in a good balance. I am sure that people will find it interesting.

What are the difficulties of acrylic painting?

Acrylics require drying and hardening, so it is difficult to maintain concentration. However, Liquitex (acrylic paint made by Bunny Corporation of the U.S.), which I started using this time, does not crack and dries quickly, so I can work faster, which has solved this problem to a large extent.

As an aside, I have been drawing pencil anyway, so I am reasonably confident in my speed.

One of the interesting aspects of dokkoi's work is the selection of original motifs. What criteria do you use to select your motifs?

The premise is that it is a culture that I like. I also hope that when people who liked the original material see my work, they will say, "I used to like this," and that some new emotion will be born. This is not limited to music, but also to movies.

I reanalyze the selected original material and update it, adjusting any missing or unbalanced parts. I draw with the feeling that I want to create a work that will make people who are familiar with the subject matter groan when they see it.

Looking at the works in the exhibition, there are a lot of catchy stories this time, aren't there?

The easier the material is to understand, the more likely it is to be conveyed to a wider audience. However, even with familiar motifs that everyone is familiar with, I choose pictures from slightly different angles or with subtle shifts.

What kind of merchandising is popular this time around?

We prepared key visual T-shirts, tote bags, and rubber key chains. I think it is a straightforward method to use the key visual as a motif for the march of an exhibition like this, but until now, we had made the march completely ignoring the key visual. But in the past, I had made the march without any regard to the key visuals, and many people said to me, "That has nothing to do with the exhibition! (laughs).

So this time, I reflected on that and created merchandise featuring the key visual. However, I have also prepared other boot items that are unique to me, so please check them out at the venue.

Finally, what would you like to say to our readers?

It is an informative exhibit, so I don't think you will find that there was not enough to do. It is a little far from the station, but I am sure that it depicts something that readers of Huinamu would like, so I would be happy if you could visit.