Shu Yonezawa Solo Exhibition “Swimming eyes”
session：2025.4.18fri - 2025.5.31sat 13:00 - 19:00
*closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
venue：SNOW Contemporary / 404 Hayano Bldg. 2-13-12 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
opening reception : 2025.4.18fri 17:00 - 19:00
SNOW Contemporary is pleased to present “Swimming Eyes,” a solo exhibition by Shu Yonezawa, from April 18 (Friday) to May 31 (Saturday), 2025.
Yonezawa is a young artist and animator, and this will be her second solo exhibition at our gallery. She is one of the high-profile artists selected from a large number of candidates for the LVMH Métiers d'Art artist-in-residence program, which will be held for the first time in Japan.
In last year's solo exhibition, “Skin of the Sea, Bone of the Absence,” she focused on the diverse ways in which life has evolved since its birth, and explored the relationship between people with future “anima” (souls) and the world, and new communication beyond words, based on life in the sea that has been continuous since ancient times.
This exhibition, “Swimming Eyes,” consists of the “Obake Screenshot” series, which focuses on the animation technique of “Obake” afterimage expression. The title of the series, “Obake,” which has been produced since 2021, is a technique of afterimage expression in animation that gives “life,” while the word “Obake” evokes the image of “death,” and thus encompasses the image of “life” and “death” in opposing directions. This is deeply connected to the artist's own fundamental questions about the mystery of the cycle of life and about life and death.
This exhibition is inspired by “Swimming Eyes,” which Yonezawa created by imagining how the mind and body will change when “seeing” is expanded. Yonezawa imagines a post-evolutionary world in which the human body, like the various bodies of animated characters in the yet-unseen future, will eventually become transparent as if floating in the air, with soul and body accepting light and shadow. In this exhibition, Yonezawa explores the evolution of the soul, body, and life from the perspective of the evolution of “seeing” and the form of the body that lies beyond.
This solo exhibition will consist entirely of new works, including seven of Yonezawa's original works and four prints. We cordially invite all to this opportunity to experience Shu Yonezawa's current point of view.
＊ Artist Statement
How will we evolve in our “seeing”?
Visual information is not merely a stimulus to the retina, but a new act of “seeing” is created by the intersection of digital tools that have become a part of our daily lives, the other side of the iPhone screen, and the afterimages of real-life memories. Our vision is no longer dependent solely on physical light, as images and visuals that may or may not be present come to mind even when we close our eyes.
When this expansion of “seeing” progresses, how will the body of the mind change? Will there be a future in which the whole body becomes an eye, and eventually “I” itself will become an eye?
I imagine such creatures of the future. The “Swimming Eye”—a picture I drew myself in 2024—is a fragmentary drawing of the creature we know today after its form has evolved further, and also is an animated picture born in the process of shaping the boundaries of the phylogenetic tree of living creatures.
Even beyond the evolution of the body's outer shell and the degeneration of its surface, the eye will surely remain necessary as long as there is light. However, it may not be just an organ, but will be transformed into the body itself. The environment of the Earth after human beings have disappeared will be different from what it is now, and it may not be dry or warm. In that environment, the soul may simply drift away and become a being with a new vision.
Have you ever watched an animation on display and wished you could be a thin and strong body, a weak and beautiful body, or something entirely different?
The human body is softer than we think and will eventually transform into transparency. However, this is not a negative change, but a positive evolution that goes along with nature. Transparent flesh, softer bones. As the supporting structure changes, the soul also transforms.
The hollow soul, like the pupil we currently possess, accepts light and shadow. And the eyes are no longer mere symbols, but are transformed into the body itself.
This exhibition will feature the “Obake Screenshot” series, which I have worked on since around 2021.
“The presence of the absence”— by depicting the animated obake monster as the boundary between the soul and time, I will explore the evolution of “seeing” and the form of the body that lies beyond.
session：2025.4.18fri - 2025.5.31sat 13:00 - 19:00
*closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
venue：SNOW Contemporary / 404 Hayano Bldg. 2-13-12 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
opening reception : 2025.4.18fri 17:00 - 19:00
SNOW Contemporary is pleased to present “Swimming Eyes,” a solo exhibition by Shu Yonezawa, from April 18 (Friday) to May 31 (Saturday), 2025.
Yonezawa is a young artist and animator, and this will be her second solo exhibition at our gallery. She is one of the high-profile artists selected from a large number of candidates for the LVMH Métiers d'Art artist-in-residence program, which will be held for the first time in Japan.
In last year's solo exhibition, “Skin of the Sea, Bone of the Absence,” she focused on the diverse ways in which life has evolved since its birth, and explored the relationship between people with future “anima” (souls) and the world, and new communication beyond words, based on life in the sea that has been continuous since ancient times.
This exhibition, “Swimming Eyes,” consists of the “Obake Screenshot” series, which focuses on the animation technique of “Obake” afterimage expression. The title of the series, “Obake,” which has been produced since 2021, is a technique of afterimage expression in animation that gives “life,” while the word “Obake” evokes the image of “death,” and thus encompasses the image of “life” and “death” in opposing directions. This is deeply connected to the artist's own fundamental questions about the mystery of the cycle of life and about life and death.
This exhibition is inspired by “Swimming Eyes,” which Yonezawa created by imagining how the mind and body will change when “seeing” is expanded. Yonezawa imagines a post-evolutionary world in which the human body, like the various bodies of animated characters in the yet-unseen future, will eventually become transparent as if floating in the air, with soul and body accepting light and shadow. In this exhibition, Yonezawa explores the evolution of the soul, body, and life from the perspective of the evolution of “seeing” and the form of the body that lies beyond.
This solo exhibition will consist entirely of new works, including seven of Yonezawa's original works and four prints. We cordially invite all to this opportunity to experience Shu Yonezawa's current point of view.
＊ Artist Statement
How will we evolve in our “seeing”?
Visual information is not merely a stimulus to the retina, but a new act of “seeing” is created by the intersection of digital tools that have become a part of our daily lives, the other side of the iPhone screen, and the afterimages of real-life memories. Our vision is no longer dependent solely on physical light, as images and visuals that may or may not be present come to mind even when we close our eyes.
When this expansion of “seeing” progresses, how will the body of the mind change? Will there be a future in which the whole body becomes an eye, and eventually “I” itself will become an eye?
I imagine such creatures of the future. The “Swimming Eye”—a picture I drew myself in 2024—is a fragmentary drawing of the creature we know today after its form has evolved further, and also is an animated picture born in the process of shaping the boundaries of the phylogenetic tree of living creatures.
Even beyond the evolution of the body's outer shell and the degeneration of its surface, the eye will surely remain necessary as long as there is light. However, it may not be just an organ, but will be transformed into the body itself. The environment of the Earth after human beings have disappeared will be different from what it is now, and it may not be dry or warm. In that environment, the soul may simply drift away and become a being with a new vision.
Have you ever watched an animation on display and wished you could be a thin and strong body, a weak and beautiful body, or something entirely different?
The human body is softer than we think and will eventually transform into transparency. However, this is not a negative change, but a positive evolution that goes along with nature. Transparent flesh, softer bones. As the supporting structure changes, the soul also transforms.
The hollow soul, like the pupil we currently possess, accepts light and shadow. And the eyes are no longer mere symbols, but are transformed into the body itself.
This exhibition will feature the “Obake Screenshot” series, which I have worked on since around 2021.
“The presence of the absence”— by depicting the animated obake monster as the boundary between the soul and time, I will explore the evolution of “seeing” and the form of the body that lies beyond.
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