Space776  is pleased to present Midnight Tour, an exhibition of new work by Shuto Okayasu, on view from July 10 through August 5 at 37-39 Clinton St in the Lower East Side, a new space of Space776.  This is Okayasu’s second solo exhibition at Space776. 

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In Midnight Tour, the Brooklyn based, Japanese artist invites viewers to step into intimate settings and environments inspired by New York City’s night scene. The series of works Okayasu shows are mostly from night scene he saw in the city; subway, deli, people he met, and city lights. He emphasizes the intertwining of reality and unreality, and how perception and imagination play into our daily experiences. The paintings take the form of a patchwork of bizarre and alluring elements of everyday life. His technique and style vary slightly from one work to the next as he attempts to represent both real and imagined aspects of his surroundings. He often incorporates stylistic elements of abstract painting, Japanese painting, and cartoons into his work. This inconsistency lends itself to a feeling of unpredictability that his work intends to capture and helps portray this idea of existing in a strange and beautiful world.

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Shuto Okayasu (b.1990, Saitama, Japan) is a painter, photographer, and illustrator. He studied Graphic Design at Tokyo Zokei University. Since he moved to New York in 2015, Okayasu has been bouncing off between photo-realistic and surrealistic images which incorporates stylistic elements of Japanese painting and cartoons. Heavily influenced by cut and paste and sampling of Hip Hop culture, he patchworks his perception of everyday life which navigates viewers into a realistic dreamy world.

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