Yohta Matsuoka Solo : Fake Plastic Apples 

Alpha Contemporary is pleased to present “Yohta Matsuoka: Fake Plastic Apples” from April 25 to May 14, 2025.

This exhibition introduces “still life paintings” created from the unique perspective of Yohta Mastuoka, who lives in this day and age, using the format of “still life paintings” that have appeared in the history of art since the end of the Renaissance.


”Still-life paintings” exclude human figures and are depicted with unmoving objects that are far removed from their natural surroundings.


In his still-life paintings, Yohta Matsuoka uses iconic motifs from Western art history and contemporary art, such as bananas and apples, to create images that fluctuate human perception and cognition, such as by making objects float in the air or coexist with real objects and fakes.


Dramatically composed, vividly colored, somewhat cynical, and playful, Yohta Matsuoka's works evoke a variety of senses in the viewer.


As the exhibition title “Fake Plastic Apples” implies, please come and experience Yohta Matuoka's “trick” still-life paintings up close.

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【Artist Statement】

Taking the traditional format of still life painting as a starting point, this exhibition is an attempt to question the fluctuation of visual perception and the process of meaning generation of matter.

The vase is not just a container, but is also perceived as part of the face, prompting the viewer's perception of the object to actually be fluid, or by intentionally depicting an apple floating in the air, the time axis of the “still life” is unleashed.

Was it thrown or is it falling?”

Such visual disturbance also functions as a counter to the immediate consumption of information and fixation of meaning in contemporary society, and raises questions about uncertain information in an age of AI-generated images and fake news.

Is what we see in front of us really “real”?

And is the apple you are looking at really an apple?

Movement lurks within the stillness of a still-life painting.

New meanings and interpretations emerge from the cracks of a fixed image.

At that moment, our perception seems to open up again.

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Yohta Matsuoka (Japanese b.1978)

Born in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture in 1978, Matsuoka graduated from Tama Art University. In 2004, he began his career as a live painter under the name “JONJON GREEN” in the Japanese street culture scene, and was greatly influenced by “Memphis,” a colorful and exciting design group that emerged mainly in Italy in the 1980s. In 2021, he began creating still-life paintings in which simple objects such as spheres and sticks are placed on a black-and-white screen in a primitive sense. Under his real name “Yohta Matsuoka,” he held the solo exhibition “Before Dawn / SORTone, Tokyo, 2022,” which attracted domestic and international attention, and the solo exhibition “Before Dawn / MOOSEY, Norwich, 2023” in the UK. Through the simulacra phenomenon obtained by accidental relationships between objects, he explores the creation of humor that is different from the original appearance of the objects.

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■𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

・Duration｜April 25 - May 14 2025

・Operation Hour ｜ Tue.-Sat. 12:00 - 18:00, Tue : Appointment only by 6 pm (Closed on Sun, Mon and National Holidays)

・Venue｜Alpha Contemporary

・Admission｜Free

・Inquiry｜infoalphacontemporary@gmail.com

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■Artist Talk

・Date｜7- 8 pm May 9 2025

・RSVP

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