The solo show "Water Line" by Japanese artist ob is currently being held at Perrotin Gallery, which overlooks the streets of Hong Kong. Running from September 14 to November 9, 2024, the exhibition is composed of works that skillfully depict the boundary between reality and dreams, with water as the central motif.
ob, Friends at Sea, 2024, Oil, oil pastel, colored pencil on canvas, 162 × 194 cm | 63 3/4 × 76 3/8 inches.
©2024 ob/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy Perrotin.
The Stories Woven by Water
The world ob creates is tranquil, filled with soft colors, misty landscapes, and silent girls with large eyes. The delicate contours drawn in oil pastel evoke a blue haze, like moisture absorbed from the surroundings, quietly resonating with the viewer. "These works are based on my experiences from last October when I visited Hong Kong. The scenery of the sun and sky merging with the water-based lifestyle in the fishing villages inspired me. The separation between the lives of people on land and those on water led me to first imagine mermaids."
In this series, water goes beyond being just a subject—it becomes the very medium of expression. Whether it's a pond filled with blooming water lilies, a distant coastline glimpsed during a picnic, a lake crossed by boat, or a bathtub filled with water, the element is ever-present, serving as the vehicle for ob’s intrinsic imagination regarding material.
Additionally, in her works, water and eyes are closely linked. "From early on, I have been drawing people with large eyes. As I continued, I began to think about the reason behind drawing eyes. Similarly, I've been depicting water for a long time, but at some point, I became aware that there is also water within the eyes."
For ob, communication, eye contact, and the moments when the viewer and the artwork gaze at each other are similar to looking into the surface of water. "For me, drawing eyes and drawing water are much the same," she explains.
ob, A Town of Fish, 2024, Oil, oil pastel, colored pencil on canvas, 130.3 × 130.3 cm | 51 5/16 × 51 5/16 inches.
©2024 ob/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy Perrotin.
ob, Picnic at the Lake, 2024, Oil, oil pastel, colored pencil on canvas, 112 × 162 cm | 44 1/8 × 63 3/4 inches.
©2024 ob/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy Perrotin.
The Aesthetic of Uncertainty
In the worlds ob paints, mermaids tenderly cherish flowers by the water's edge, and girls with white wings meld with swans in the pond. Her long braids intertwine playfully with underwater creatures. At the same time, one can recognize distinctive scenes of Hong Kong within the works—harbor views, everyday window scenes, and solitary figures gazing out from airplane windows—all of which subtly pull the viewer back to reality.
"The structure of the human mind, the natural environment, and biological systems are all subject to the cycle of life and death, so uncertainty is inevitable. I treat the characters in my work as symbolic motifs, each containing multiple possibilities before settling into something concrete. I reflect on how we, both myself and others, can live in better circumstances."
Dialogue with Inner Emotions
In today’s digital society, ob’s works offer a quiet space for introspection. "Compared to other media, paintings aren’t something that can be viewed anytime, but this means that the way people see them varies depending on the viewer. In daily life, it's hard to find time for introspection, but I want to create works that activate the viewer’s personal narrative when they look at them."
ob’s creations confront a world filled with uncertainty, merging the visible and invisible within the landscape of imagination. Embedded within her work is the notion that only dreams persist. Her art frees us from the tangible, allowing us to follow our deepest emotions and fantasies without constraint. These imaginative images, filled with pure emotion, leave a lasting impact, even after we awake from the dream.
View of ob's exhibition, "Water Line", at Perrotin Hong Kong, 2024 Photo: Ringo Cheung
©2024 ob/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy Perrotin
ob
Born in 1992, ob is one of the leading figures among the SNS-generation artists in Japan, who rose to prominence around 2010. While still a university student, she was active primarily in Kyoto, engaging with contemporaries through the illustration platform pixiv. She gained attention through the "wassyoi" exhibition, and in 2013 collaborated with Shu Uemura. As a new-generation artist raised in the age of video games and social media, ob expresses a delicate and fantastical world, often centered on girls with large eyes. In recent years, she has participated in numerous international art fairs, gaining increasing global recognition.
Water Line
Dates: September 14, 2024 – November 9, 2024
Venue: PERROTIN HONG KONG(807, K11 ATELIER VICTORIA DOCKSIDE, 18 SALISBURY ROAD, TSIM SHA TSUI)
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