Hideki Kessoku is an illustrator active in diverse fields, but especially in book design and advertising. His recent works include book design for best-selling fiction writer Miyuki Miyabe, Shinkansen illustrations for JR-East, and advertising for the J-WAVE radio station. Kessoku’s “Gradation” exhibition will feature works he created after becoming a finalist in the 17th “Hitotsubo” Graphic Art Exhibition in 2001, including original works he has already shown and new works never seen before.
Kessoku says he became fascinated by the beauty of abandoned buildings in urban settings after seeing manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira as a child. Perhaps under that influence, humans gradually disappeared from the scenes Kessoku drew, and in their place appeared numerous buildings, walls and vacant lots depicted in meticulously crafted textures.
Kessoku says the exhibition title, “gradation,” is meant to connote the ongoing evolution of his artistic career. Yet it also seems underneath to indicate the “transformation” of what he has seen in the real world into the realms he depicts in his works. Using a digital camera, he shoots photos of scenes that catch his fancy; then, while poring over those photos, he transforms reality into the realm of fiction, all with a tinge of science fiction.
Visitors are sure to enjoy seeing what worlds of science fiction Hideki Kessoku has created in his newest works.

Message from the Artist

I use the technique of gradation in my recent works, but in my mind there is also something akin to gradation in the path I have trod since I began drawing. At each creative step along the way, without realizing it my ideas and thoughts have progressively changed, in some cases on purpose and in others completely by chance. When I stop to look back on its entirety, I realize that the changes have been continuous, evolving into something altogether different.
In this exhibition, half consists of original works created on my own, and the other half features works I was hired to create. I hope visitors will get a sense of how I have changed over time, with the works I have created as a commercial illustrator influencing my original and new works, and vice versa.

Hideki Kessoku