The showcase is Narita's first in Hong Kong and will feature three series from his work. Using animated characters and toys as a basis for his visual language, Narita's worldview seems at first glance to be pop and charming. But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that his artworks are a distorted reflection of weirdness and death. Narita’s sculptures explore three-dimensional forms and the relationship between objects and space, with characters that inhabit an animated world devoid of depth.
He became known across Asia following his first solo exhibition in 2015 that presented FRP sculptures that had been fashioned from discarded toys. Since then, his work has taken on a more pop flair but continues to reflect the dilemma of loving excessively processed, reproduced, and controlled items produced in a world full of capitalism. And that morphology continues as he sees people interact in a world made fictionalized through the overuse of technology.
Throughout Narita’s works, the intersection of these two worlds is a common thread, which materializes the fictional world into sculpture in the real world. Narita's collection of discarded toys can be seen depicted in the rectangular paintings in this exhibition, which resemble smartphone displays. The toys are spray painted onto the canvas long after moving past their intended purpose. His works in sculpture and painting show they remain alive as long as they are fluid. Through his exhibition, he pushes them into eternity.
