The happiness that exists here in this world simply is what it is.
There can be things that lack form in this world, yet still exist, and I see and feel their countless vestiges here among us. Perhaps they are like heat and colors that dwell within a person’s soul.
I trace invisible paths of memory to paint them, and by painting them, I trace them once more.
All this together forms the happiness that exists here in this world.
Aki Kondo
About Exhibition
The Happiness that Exists Here, a group of fifty paintings that Aki Kondo created in her hometown of Sapporo, Japan from winter 2019 to summer 2020, has become a book. We at ShugoArts are pleased to announce her solo exhibition in order to celebrate its publication.
Aki Kondo’s bold and spontaneous brushstrokes, vivid colors, and humorous and imaginative images have captured the hearts of many people. On the other hand, Kondo’s work is always based on her unique view of life and death, which she has developed through the experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake and other losses that happened in her life. The motifs of The Happiness that Exists Here are flowers given in celebration of life, flowers given in appreciation of life, a child gazing into the distance, and overlapping empty cups. Each of these motifs embodies flickering life with which others are also involved.
In any kind of situation, Aki Kondo continues to create works that strongly affirm the importance of living in the present, without leaving painting or indulging herself in expressing sadness. Although the artist once said that her feelings could not keep up with the speed of her own artistic production, the process of creating The Happiness that Exists Here made her realize that living and painting overlap. With the completion of this body of work, Kondo decided to move to Yamagata last summer, where her alma mater, Tohoku University of Art and Design, is located. She is now preparing a new environment for her art practice while planning her next work.
Aki KONDO, Happiness of Being There, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 41×31.8cm
Aki KONDO, Living in the Wilderness, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 60.6×72.7cm
Installation movie
The publication of this monograph was made possible by the efforts of Tomoki Matsumoto of T&M Projects, who has been paying attention to Kondo’s activities for a long time, and the design was realized by Satoshi Suzuki. The readers will enjoy Kondo’s first monograph as they turn the pages and come face to face with various pictures that look like actual paintings. The luster and rise of the paint, the rich flow of brushstrokes, and the overlapping colors of Kondo’s paintings are all recreated on paper. In addition, a limited edition of 100 floral works in acrylics, each specially painted by Kondo herself for this book, will be released as a special edition titled A Hundred Flowers.
220 x 280mm, 128pages
5,500JPY
Aki Kondo, Ryoko Kamiyama
Christopher Stephens
Satoshi Suzuki
T&M Projects + ShugoArts
March 2021
978-4-909442-18-5
In addition, A Hundred Flowers, a special edition of The Happiness that Exists Here, will be available. It is limited to 100 production, including Kondo’s special acrylic artwork especially for the monograph.
77,000JPY
Limited to 100 production, including one artwork by Aki Kondo and one copy of the book, housed in a box.
All images can be viewed in the PDF List or the slideshow movie below.
In cooperation with Phillips Tokyo, Contemporary Art Foundation, the multiple exhibitions are going to be realized in Roppongi. Also please check the publication event and exhibition at Daikanyama Tsutaya Books. Each overview is listed below. All exhibitions will be based on a different theme, and this will be a large-scale opportunity to see nearly seventy pieces of Aki Kondo’s works in multiple locations, including her solo exhibition at our gallery. We hope that you will enjoy them all.
February 2021, ShugoArts
Information
Saturday, March 13 – Saturday, April 10, 2021
ShugoArts
noon ‒ 6pm, Closed on Sun, Mon and Public Holidays
Saturday, March 13 – Friday, April 9, 2021
PHILLIPS TOKYO
4F, Piramide Building, 6-6-9, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Closed on Sat, Sun and Public Holidays
Saturday, March 13 – Friday, April 9, 2021
Contemporary Art Foundation
4F, Piramide Building, 6-6-9, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Always on view while the exhibition is up.
Friday, March 12 – Wednesday, March 31, 2021
DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS, 17-5 Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Open every day (Please see the website for opening hours.)
Minako Ishii
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to PHILLIPS TOKYO and Contemporary Art Foundation for their generous assistance and support to this exhibition.
ShugoArts info@shugoarts.com / +81 (0)3 6447 2234
DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS https://store.tsite.jp/daikanyama/ / +81 (0)3-3770-2525
*Please note that the dates and opening hours are different at each venue.
Aki KONDO, Flowers for the Happy Day, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 91×72.7cm
Born in 1987 in Hokkaido and currently residing in Yamagata, Japan. Aki Kondo continues to depict hope and compassion for all forms of life through bold colors and dynamic brushstrokes. For Kondo, who believes that “to paint is to live,” the act of creation is both a process of envisioning the world she wishes to see and a means of self-recognition through painting. Her artistic expression extends beyond canvases and panels, freely expanding into three-dimensional objects, walls, ceilings, and entire spaces. Additionally, Kondo has demonstrated her talent in various artistic endeavors, including writing, directing, and producing the short film HIKARI, which seamlessly blends approximately 14,000 oil-painted animation frames with live-action footage.
Selected exhibitions: Aki Kondo: What I Saw, When I Tore Myself Open, Art Tower Mito, Ibaraki, 2025; I Wanted to See You, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2023; Aichi Triennale 2022, Aichi, 2022; Stars, Sparkling, Yamagata Museum of Art, Yamagata, 2021; The Happiness that Exists Here, ShugoArts/ Phillips Tokyo/ Contemporary Art Foundation, Tokyo, 2021; Takamatsu Art Museum Collection + Body and Movement, Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa, 2020; Flowers in the Heart, ShugoArts Online Show, Tokyo, 2020; Today Waiting for That Day and Tomorrow, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2018; Paintings Here And Now, Fuchu Art Museum, Tokyo, 2018; HIKARI, Daiwa Foundation Japan House, London, 2016; HIKARI, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2015; THE ECOLOGY OF AKI KONDO, JIKKA, Tokyo, 2013; PHANTOMS OF ASIA: Contemporary Awakens the Past, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2012. VOCA 2022 Honorable Mention Award, 2022.
