HONG KONG.- Christie’s announces Currents: Japanese Contemporary Art, a new private sale exhibition of contemporary art, from 9-28 May 2014 in the James Christie Room at Alexandra House. Currents features 40 works of art from eighteen artists, unveiling the variety of expression and innovation happening in Japan today. The exhibition ranges in different media and styles from up-and-coming Japanese artists like Keisuke Tanaka, through to works by established artists such as Yoshitomo Nara, Korehiko Hino, Izumi Kato, Ikki Miyake, and Atsushi Suwa, who already have a strong presence in Japan and abroad. Coinciding with Art Basel Hong Kong and the Christie's Spring Hong Kong Sales, this exhibition offers both new and seasoned collectors opportunities to view some of Japan’s most creative and engaging works from artists who are redefining Asian contemporary art.

Shinji Ogawa (b. 1959)
Shinji Ogawa graduated from Mie University in 1983 and has since been extensively exhibited in Japan, including The Contemporary Museum in Nagoya, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art in Aichi, as well as Ithaca College in New York. In addition, his works are held in the collections of Tokai City, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and The National Museum of Art in Osaka. Ogawa’s works are extraordinary, familiar, and are rendered photographically, with an illusionary mirror image that is in fact deceptive of reality. In a series of his oil paintings, Ogawa masterfully recreates works by Jean-Francois Millet, Vermeer or Da Vinci but by removing crucial parts from the original masterpieces, he leaves behind a whimsy in the void and an unexpected element of completeness, as though nothing was ever wrong.

Katsuyo Aoki (b. 1972)
Born in Tokyo, Katsuyo Aoki received a MFA in Ceramics from Tama Art University, and then grants and residencies in New York for several years. Her works have been internationally exhibited including Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo, Taipei County Yungge Ceramic Museum, The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, Museum of Fine Art in Houston, and most recently at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. Aoki is best known for her ceramic sculptures that feature delicate and intricate subject matter with frequently used motifs and forms including the skull, the crown, and dismembered parts of animals. Aoki states, “By citing such images, I feel I am able to express an – atmosphere- that is a part of the complex world in this age. Also, the technique of ceramics has a tradition that has been a part of the history of decoration over a long time, and I feel the delicateness and fragile tension of the substantial material well express my concept.”

Korehiko Hino (b. 1976)
Korehiko Hino holds an MA in painting from the University of Tsukuba and his works are in numerous collections and have been exhibited at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, and Shanghai Art Museum. He has been awarded the Prize for Excellence at The 6th Biennial Exhibition of Arts in Makurazaki, the Grand Prize at the 9th Aoki Shigeru Memorial Award Contest, the Grand Prize at the 20th Izu Art Festival Painting Contest, Tokyo Wonderwall Prize, and the VOCA Prize. In his works, there is an apparent disconnect between the detached, shell-like bodies and the minds of the figures, as exemplified by the deliberately neutral appearance of the subject. However, the look of the figures’ eyes and their frozen appearance are intensely alive, inviting one to probe into the spiritual, emotional existence of the subject. This struggle to comprehend the relationship between unseen and seen is enhanced by the blossoming flowers or mirrors that put up barricades between one realm and another.