Starting in late September, Guardian Garden will host the 26th exhibition in its series titled “The Second Stage at GG.” The series originally showcased finalists in the gallery’s “Hitotsubo” open competitions launched in 1992 to promote young creative artists. Last year the “Hitotsubo” series came to a close after 30 events encompassing a total of 566 finalists, to be superseded this year by the “1_WALL” competitions. “The Second Stage at GG” to date has featured many finalists (not necessarily Grand Prize winners) from the “Hitotsubo” series who are active today in various fields, with a focus on their subsequent creative activities. Going forward, the series will feature prominent participants of the new “1_WALL” series as well.

The 26th exhibition in “The Second Stage at GG” series will place the spotlight on Hiroki Yamamoto, a leading member of the new generation of graphic designers. Yamamoto was a finalist in the 17th “Hitotsubo” Graphic Art competition (2001), when he was still a student at Tama Art University. He later went on to work as a designer for a manufacturing firm, but soon formed his own company, MARVIN LLC, where he undertakes creative work in advertising, editorial design, product design, etc. Yamamoto’s designs have a powerful, consistent identity totally free from all preconceptions. Simultaneously bold and delicately subtle, his works today attract great attention.

The title and theme of Yamamoto’s upcoming solo show is “Shibuya Bijutsu Gakuin,” which translates to “Shibuya Art Academy,” a real vocational school where he serves as both principal and instructor. Yamamoto has clipped photos taken inside the academy and reconfigured them into posters that evoke altogether different realms. Visitors are sure to enjoy seeing Yamamoto’s exciting new graphic designs expressed on simple paper.

Exhibition Overview
The exhibition will feature approximately 30 posters created by Hiroki Yamamoto on the theme of “Shibuya Bijutsu Gakuin,” an art vocational school located in the Shibuya area of Tokyo.

Message from the Artist

“Shibuya Art Academy”

I don’t believe graphic design will bring peace to the world
But I do think that with graphical thinking it’s possible to change the world
Such possibility surely exists

People who are capable of graphical thinking
are a world that is changing the world (probably in the future)
Such people have a complete understanding of light and shadow and shade
and with the borderlines between them
they can judge what’s good and what’s bad
Things are aptly toned
arriving at just the right volume
Pure form is suitably given a margin
we call necessary “waste”
and everything is moving appropriately, assuredly
The “many” see as necessary
the “individual” in the minority
and offer respect rather than thrashing
The “individuality” enjoyed by each one
germinates freely in free time
and grows each in its own direction
not blocking the sunlight
I know that unless colors complement each other
there can be no white or black
That’s why, when different sensibilities meet
they first greet each other

“Hello”
If memory serves me right
residents of this world (probably in the future)
apparently had contact with “graphism”
in their innocent and sensitive days of youth
at a place called “Shibuya Art Academy”
located between Shibuya and Aoyama

Hiroki Yamamoto