About the Exhibition

A new touring exhibition in Tokyo, Japan that toured across six venues was titled ‘In a sky full of shining stars, unknown gems can be found - To feel change and expansion in our universe.’ This exhibition featured 16 Japanese outsider artists and two American outsider artists, Mr Imagination and CJ Pyle. Two of the Japanese artists of note are Shinichi Sawada and Norimitsu Kokubo, who are represented by the Jennifer Lauren Gallery.

“The artists we are introducing create in deeply unique and idiosyncratic ways. Artists that are compelled to fill a page to the brim. Artists that are compelled to tie and bend leaves. Artists that are compelled to draw only on pieces of discarded wallpaper. The logic and systems we see these artists adopt can challenge some of our most fundamental notions of what “art” is. Our reaction is not their concern. These artists are simply compelled to create. This series of exhibitions will travel across 6 different exhibition spaces in Tokyo (including the Kichijoji Art Museum and the Tokyo Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery), featuring the works of 16 Japanese Art Brut artists and 2 artists from overseas. This series of exhibitions also features the input from a range of specialists from folklorist, photographers, and museum director (to be referred to as the “new angle navigators”). They will be offering their professional and multi-faceted insights into Art Brut, the potential of art in society and the human compulsion to create.”

More can be read about this special art brut exhibition HERE in English.

Edward Gomez also reviewed the show HERE.

About the Exhibition

The Jennifer Lauren Gallery made its debut at the Outsider Art Fair in Paris in October 2019 alongside other galleries such as Cavin-Morris from New York, Creative Growth from California and Galerie Atelier Herenplaats from Amsterdam.

Jennifer took nine artists to the fair: Aradne, Hakunogawa, Akio Kontani, Chris Neate, Valerie Potter, C.J. Pyle, Nobuo Sasaki, Shinichi Sawada and Makoto Toya.