A Lighthouse called Kanata

About the Gallery
Situated in the heart of Tokyo, A Lighthouse called Kanata was established in 2007 by Wahei Aoyama to introduce contemporary Japanese art and aesthetics to a global audience.

Focusing on both sculpture and painting, our artists represent an emerging movement in Japanese aesthetics wherein beauty, technique and materiality, elements that for centuries have been essential to our understanding of art, are reinstated for the 21st century. Kanata embodies a “Return to Innocence” within contemporary art, and our artists push the boundaries of their respective materials to brave new heights.

Kanata means “Beyond” or “Far Away”, a quintessentially Japanese romanticism imbued by the two characters that comprise it, “Towards” and “You”.

And why a lighthouse? A lighthouse symbolizes many ideals that we hold dear. The night is dark and full of shadows, and we will continue to shine a light at the vast ocean before us, hoping to serve as a beacon of hope for not only our artists, but for future generations. Our gallery will shine the light of Japanese aesthetics far away and to the beyond. Such is the meaning of A Lighthouse called Kanata.

About the Presentation
Masanori Maeda will make their New York debut in a solo presentation with A Lighthouse called Kanata, a first-time exhibitor at Independent. Maeda (b. 1964), is an artist who brings a compelling argument for the resurgence of abstraction in Japan. Inspired from restrained gestures of the Mono-ha, Maeda’s brushstrokes hint at tension within sparse emptiness — an ominous presence beyond, expressed through yohaku (empty space), a delicate equilibrium between what is seen and unseen, life and death, pain and happiness, and other elements that lead to a realm of serenity and calm. Through traditional Japanese materials – mineral pigments, ink, nikawa (glue) and handmade Japanese paper and metal leaf, Maeda turns inherent complexity of materials into a language of captivating abstraction. In a world where images are fleeting and markets favor more temporal, figurative works, Maeda challenges this status quo, giving birth to works as a quiet countermovement against the dominance of the figurative in today’s Japan.