ART CITIES:Seoul-MADSAKI

MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC - Roman Holiday), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas, 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy PerrotinA man of deep perspective and a global mindset, MADSAKI graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1996, after workin as a bike messenger in New York City from 1999-2001, he had his first solo exhibition in 2003. While young, MADSAKI moved to NYC from Osaka and upon graduation from Parsons, he worked for the Barnstormers artist group before he started his solo career between Tokyo and New York.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Perrotin Gallery Archive

“BADA BING, BADA BOOM” is the title of MADSAKI’s solo exhibition. Held at the Perrotin Gallery in Seoul, the exhibition explores the artist’s ability to transform examples of high-art and themes tied to contemporary society into renditions that are eerily dystopian. To do this, MADSAKI covers his paintings with dripping smiley faces, his signature. In addition, he adds creepy expressions onto Andy Warhol’s iconic flower works, and even onto a portrait of James Dean in “Untitled (TBC – Rebel Without a Cause)” (2017) or from other movies like the work “Untitled (TBC – Gone with the Wind)” (2017) as well as parodies of Andy Warhol creating crude imitations of Warhol’s iconic flower paintings in Untitled “(TBC – Warhol small)” (2017). As the artist says “I have always tried to transform my rugged feelings toward this fleeting world into slang and make paintings with those words. Or, I’ve barely managed to prove to myself that I am in this world by painting past masterpieces and celebrities with a spray can, and in doing so, spitting on the value of beauty I’ve gone through”. Since the beginning of his career as an artist, he has shown numerous styles ranging from extremely detailed drawings to large scale sculptures and installations. Recently his style underwent dramatic change where provocative words and phrases now play a center role. Despite of this change, MADSAKI continuously observes the society and everyday life from a distinct perspective, reinterprets and reconstructs the extracted essences into his own work. As many artists have done in the past with phrases and words, what MADSAKI portrays through his works cannot be categorized as a simple “slander”, but is a form of “reconfigured phrases” easily surpassing the symbolic meanings of the original words to satirize and banter the society we live in, while arising many questions. Through his works MADSAKI challenges and stirs the stereotype values of various systems we encounter in daily life.

Info: Perrotin Gallery, 1F 5 Palapn-Gil, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, Duration: 15/11/17-13/1/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.perrotin.com

MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC - character series 1), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin
MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC – character series 1), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin

 

 

MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC - Rebel Without a Cause), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin
MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC – Rebel Without a Cause), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin

 

 

MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC - Gone with the Wind), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin
MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC – Gone with the Wind), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin

 

 

MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC - Warhol small), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin
MADSAKI, Untitled (TBC – Warhol small), 2017, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas (TBC), 100 x 100 cm, Courtesy Perrotin