Atsuko Goto - Melancholy Festivals

About

Melancholy Festivals is an exhibition of new drawings by Atsuko Goto . These drawings dwell on themes of war, religion (in Japan, the involvement of cult-like new religions and politics has become a social problem), dreams and human emotions. Opening reception: Saturday, July 22nd, 6 - 9pm. Drinks will be provided by our friends at Jetty Road Brewery and Malocchio. This exhibition will run from July 23rd - August 13th and will coincide with Alex Garant's Bon Voyage! , Mark Seabrook's Trouble on Three Wheels and Dewi Plass' Circus . The work depicts the horror of how easily good and evil can be turned upside down, the fragility of human beings who readily accept this, the stupidity of people who are dazzled and made ecstatic by outrageous and violent events, the strength to resist this and, finally, the ugliness and beauty of all these elements. Atsuko Goto, born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1982, notes that “Dreams are like strange stories, landscapes, our memory builds unconsciously. I draw what comes up from our unconscious, like hidden feelings reflected in our dreams.” Goto’s studies in France (2007 to 2009) and her experience of the earthquake of March 2011 in Japan led her to reflect on traits the Japanese regarded as virtues and her view that “Japanese live in the middle of a wide emptiness, locked up inside their imaginary cocoon, calm and sincere, but quietly desperate. As a Japanese myself, I draw imaginary landscapes seen from the inside of this world.”