Go Tanaka won the Grand Prix in the 6th “1_WALL” Graphics Competition for “Stand Alone Complex,” his screentone portraits combining paintings by Soga Shohaku (18th C.) and his own doodlings. His diverse figures, all of uniform size, were printed on sticker paper and displayed by pressing the seals to the gallery wall. The judges unanimously voted for Mr. Tanaka to win. One commented on how he liked the “cheapness” of Mr. Tanaka’s display method, which he felt offered up new possibilities. Another remarked that Mr. Tanaka’s creations were actually of a high level of perfection, a manifestation of the artist’s focused attention to the finest details.

For this solo exhibition, Mr. Tanaka has created a large number of new characters. He draws them as they come to him, his artistry inspired by movies, music and various other things he encounters every day. While his characters may seem “cheap” on first glance, Mr. Tanaka is meticulous in the way he transforms them and their lingering images, in his choice of screentone, and in his creation of their expressions, clothing, etc. He says his hope is, though these figures, to share the sense of excitement he himself received in creating them.
For this exhibition, in keeping with Mr. Takana’s exhibition title – “DISCO” – the artist has transformed the gallery into a disco-like setting and placed his figures against backdrops of trees and flowers. Unlike his previous works, the combination with such backgrounds infuses the characters with new elements of time and space. What sense of excitement will these figures newly created for this exhibition, arranged in this “disco,” convey to us? We eagerly invite visitors to come and see for themselves.