HONG KONG.- White Cube presents new fresco and tempera paintings by Shigeo Otake (b.1955, Kobe, Japan) in the artist’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong.
Informed by his interest in Early Italian Renaissance techniques, Otake’s painting practice spans more than four decades. In 1985, a chance encounter with a giant wild mushroom in Kyoto, Japan, sparked his interest in mycology; since the late 1980s he has pursued meticulous studies of parasites and the transformative morphology of Cordyceps, a genus of parasitic fungi.
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Titled ‘Agoraphilia’ the exhibition centres on the agora, an Ancient Greek word meaning ‘assembly’, as both a site of action and a conceptual framework. Otake takes this as a departure point for his marketplace paintings, in which he engages with systems of circulation, the logic of consumerism and the dynamics of reciprocity.
In these new paintings, densely populated scenes of anthropomorphic figures and botanical forms appear to take part in collective assembly, drawing parallels between organic growth and public life. By way of the marketplace and its many textures, Otake interrogates the cadence of an everyday life structured by movement and exchange.
‘Shigeo Otake: Agoraphilia’ is on view at White Cube Hong from 10 July until 29 August 2026.
The exhibition coincides with a two-part survey of the artist’s work, organised by Consortium Museum in Dijon, France. In Venice, coinciding with the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, ‘Chapter I: ‘Nel mezzo del cammin’ at Palazzo Zon continues until 28 June 2026. Chapter II: ‘Per una selva oscura’ opens at Consortium Museum on 3 July 2026 as part of the L’Almanach 26 biennial.
Shigeo Otake (b. 1955, Kobe, Japan), lives and works in Kobe, Japan. Otake received a BFA and an MFA from the Kyoto City University of Arts, Japan, between 1979 and 1981. Recent solo exhibitions include Le Consortium, Dijon & Palazzo Zon, Venice (2026); American Art Catalogues, New York (2025); Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2025) and Beijing (2023); and ADZ Gallery, Lisbon (2024). He has had numerous group exhibitions, including Shibunkaku, Tokyo (2026); Frieze No. 9 Cork Street, London (2025); He Art Museum, Foshan, China (2025); Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China (2025); and Gladstone, New York (2024), among others.
