Reio Kikuchi (Japanese b.1993) questions the way we perceive and appreciate works and objects. We live in an era where we are flooded with images. Many images are generated every day, and these images control our lives. Kikuchi makes us think about the way we perceive and the act of viewing images that are generated, reproduced, and distributed in large numbers.

 

Kikuchi paints existing paintings multiple times using the same reference. The images, which are fully reproduced in the original work, are overlapped with various cuts, intentionally leaving traces of editing on the screen. Looking at the reproduced ``non-real'' images, the viewers perceive that they are viewing them as ``the same images as the original works.'' The works introduced at this show are based on UKIYO-E works, but it is also interesting that the prints, which can be reproduced multiple times, are originals. The images that Kikuchi refers to are those on a digital screen, and the ambiguous contrast between the imaginary and the real is set up over and over again. Kikuchi's works make us think about our perceptions as we live on the precarious boundary between reality and fiction.

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Entered Tokyo University of the Arts, Department of Painting, majoring in Japanese Painting (2014), completed doctoral course at Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, and obtained Ph.D. (2023). Held numerous solo and group exhibitions. The work is in the collection of the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts.