The Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka and the Kansai Osaka 21st Century Association present a solo exhibition by Kishi Maoya as the second show in the Osaka Directory series.

Kishi Maoya (born in Osaka in 1986) creates three-dimensional works and installations using lumber, building materials, packing materials like polystyrene foam and blue tarps, and industrial products such as plastic materials and LED bulletin boards. His art, made by combining these materials that people come across in daily life, and which are hardly worked on by the artist, is reminiscent of handicraft class that children in school are familiar with, and also seems to serve as a metaphor for architecture and society. If creating things is working these materials into a different state, you could say that Kishi’s practice is trying to give form to the very act of ‘creating.’

Comprising a mix of existing works and new works for this show, the exhibition shines light on the artist’s ‘handwork,’ which appears to be something between materials used in the creation of art and finished artwork. While, at first glance, it may appear as if the materials are being used as is, Kishi’s art bestows upon them a different aura. While these things that we see in everyday life might be placed before us as is, they’ve been transformed into something we’ve never seen before. This provides a glimpse into the essence of what is for an artist to create art.