What You Need to Know: Whitestone Gallery’s Hong Kong location recently opened “Tenmyouya Hisashi: Game of Thought,” the Japanese artist’s first solo exhibition in the city. On view through January 25, 2025, the show features a curated selection of both recent works and works from 2020, showcasing their exploration of traditional Japanese themes and techniques and, simultaneously, contemporary modes of artistic expression. During the show’s opening reception on November 23, 2024, a live Taiko drum performance by GEKKO group accompanied the unveiling of the show, bringing another contextual dimension to the artist’s work.
Installation view of “Tenmyouya Hisashi: Game of Thought” (2024). Courtesy of Whitestone Gallery.
About the Artist: Tenmyouya Hisashi (b.1966), who is currently based in Saitama, Japan, is best known for his development of Neo-Nihonga (Neo-Japanese), a unique artistic style which taps traditional Japanese painting techniques and compositions and adapts them for contemporary audiences. Using motifs and heroic imagery from Japanese culture, such as Edo knights, Sentai heroes, sumo wrestlers, and mythical backdrops, the artist transforms these with a contemporary sensibility, offering new perspectives both on the historic Japanese art but its present and future as well. Similarly, Tenmyouya developed the concept of “Basara” in the early 2010s, in dialogue with concepts put forth by Tarō Okamoto in the 20th century. Referencing a swathe of Japanese art concerned with beauty, with Basara Tenmyouya seeks to forge a new, innovative approach to aesthetics that doesn’t rely on the standards of historical art. Tenmyouya’s work has been exhibited worldwide, and may be found in major collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; and Takamatsu City Museum of Art.
Hisashi Tenmyouya, Mickey Arrive (2020). Courtesy of Whitestone Gallery.
Why We Like It: Fantastical yet rooted in tradition, “Game of Thought” illustrates Tenmyouya’s novel approach to contemporary art making without turning their back on the past. Highlights from the solo exhibition include works such as A Picture of a Sumo Wrestler Defeating a Yokai (2024), with Yokai being a supernatural being from Japanese folklore, which presents a contemporary interpretation of the traditional story motif through the lens of a contemporary compositional structure. Elsewhere, Mickey Arrive (2020), which was made in collaboration with Disney and measure an impressive three meters wide, takes inspiration from the oldest painted handscroll (or “Emakimono”) in Japan dating from the Heian period. Fusing the traditional Japanese artistic style, replete with gold leaf backdrop and ancient color palette, with the modern depiction of Mickey Mouse invites considerations around the myriad ways Japanese art may evolve into the future.
Installation view of “Tenmyouya Hisashi: Game of Thought” (2024). Courtesy of Whitestone Gallery.
“Tenmyouya Hisashi: Game of Thought” is on view through January 25, 2025.