KAZUKI MATSUSHITA

Artist bio

Intoxication view
June 29 - July 28, 2024
Opening Reception: June 29, 5-7pm

KAYOKOYUKI is pleased to announce Intoxication view, Kazuki Matsushita’s second exhibition with the gallery.

Matsushita focuses on the physical aspects within texts or poetry and views painting as a medium for further examining these elements. Throughout his practice, he collects words and phrases, and creates anagrams by rearranging the letters. His canvas acts as an extension of these poems, where his redefinition of words is abstractly expressed through colors, forms, gaps, and strokes. The white spaces on the canvas function as the gaps between the words and stanzas of a poem. Almost as if the motifs on the canvas are words itself, the white areas resonate as the blank silent spaces between words in a poem, evoking the essence of a verse. This indirect dialogue, an intimate reciprocity between his private notebook and the expansive canvas, between title and motif, creates a unique interplay, bestowing each piece with an eloquent tension between language and visual art.

The title of this exhibition, "Intoxication view," is a phrase created by Matsushita, drawing on the concept of "Installation view." For him, the intriguing commonality between "Intoxication" and "Installation" lies in the fact that, whatever the scene, one believes in the reality they are currently seeing. Additionally, it is the inability to clearly recall when such a belief began.
The impact of words controls perception, leaving one left intoxicated and under the influence of something more powerful. The self-referential wordplay seen in his titles serves as a method for liberating himself from the powerful and restrictive meanings that words carry, allowing him to reassess facts objectively. By capturing these subtle nuances on canvas, he explores the potential for slight misunderstandings, guiding us towards fresh and humorous redefinitions.

Intoxication view

『Right, Left』
『Humanist Sans-Serif “Star Finishes Manus”』 humanist sans serif ⇔ star finishes manus
『The starry night (R stay right then)』 the starry night ⇔ r stay right then
『When I said that, when I shit data』 when i said that ⇔ when i shit data
『Spit is R (spirits)』 spit is r ⇔ spirits
『Spit is R (spirits)』 spit is r ⇔ spirits
『Untitled』

Appearance of the Motif

The exhibited work "Right, Left" uses my self written press release (*1) from the 2023 solo exhibition "The Agentur" as its material. The text written in Japanese is shifted one character to the left using the layout of the Japanese syllabary, creating the Left element, and shifted one character to the right to create the Right element. In this process, the alphabet is not selected. In "Right, Left," I was examining the method of controlling subtle differences and nuances given to the text to consider the appearance of the motif.

Reference 1.
The primary moral […] is that a puzzle is a puzzle . — Saul A. Kripke, "A Puzzle About Belief" 1979.

a. The first substance recognized as alcohol is ethanol, which is found in alcoholic beverages.
b. In Japan's current liquor tax law, beverages with an alcohol content of 1% or more are defined as alcoholic beverages.
c. For those with inactive ALDH2 (*2), beverages with an alcohol content of 0-1% can serve as a motif.
d. Gaseous alcohol in the atmosphere is a potential motif for those with inactive ALDH2.
e. R… denotes the class of alcohol.

The appearance of the motif is granted a privileged role in adjusting and maintaining the physiological and social functions surrounding the object. It is supported and shared by infinitely shifting trust and the collective unconscious of intimacy.

Reference 2.
Let’s finish within 12 minutes.
Answer honestly (even if you don’t like the answer).
Avoid "neutral" answers as much as possible. — The most creative questions in the introduction of "16Personalities" (as of January 14, 2023).

––– Kazuki Matsushita

*1 https://echo-cologne.com/exhibitions/the-agentur/
*2 A genotype completely lacking the enzyme activity to break down alcohol metabolites.

Kazuki Matsushita was born in 1992 in Tokyo, Japan where he currently works and lives.Matsushita has presented his work in: solo show "The Agentur" at ECHO in Cologne, 2023: solo show "Ice like Ice" at im labor in Tokyo, 2022; "X'mas" at im labor in Tokyo, 2020. And was part of the group shows "No sleeper seats, that's a mattress" at Cherry Hill in Dürener, 2024; "Tokio Hotel" at Galerie Tenko Presents in Berlin, "Obsession II" at Wschód Gallery in Warsaw, 2023; "Onsen Confidential" at KAYOKOYUKI in Tokyo, 2022, “ignore your perspective 52 Speculation⇔Real" at Kodama Gallery in Tokyo, 2019; “Group Show” at 4649 in Tokyo 2018.