Intermediary Intermediary #a

Size: H 94 cm x W 140 cm x D 3 cm

Material: Pastel, Charcoal, Paper, Wooden panel

Production year: 2025

Edition: 1 point

Work certificate: ⚪ ︎

Sign: ⚪ ︎

Where is the boundary between human-made and natural? 

I want to express in my artworks about the borderline between artificiality and nature which keeps changing with time period.

Humans don't just live in nature; they have been trying to enhance their finite lives by armored themselves with the armor called technology.

I am interested in these historical acts of human production. In the present era, the challenge is how robots can approach naturalness, still there is a border between the artificial and natural realms that does not mix to any extent. 

Is it a question of perception or the soul?

The main intention of my artworks are to create organic forms using inorganic objects, to replace immaterial, flat data with material, three-dimensional objects. 

To be more specific, creating images of the natural world using metal and plastic as motifs, and to bring digital image landscapes back into the material and real world using tools such as canvas, paint and ink.

The Chain Museum, which operates "ArtSticker" and FONZ, which operates "THE CITY BAKERY" opened "Gallery & Bakery Tokyo 8 min" on the first floor of TODA BUILDING in Kyobashi, Tokyo, featuring an art gallery alongside a bakery and cafe. For the 3rd exhibition of Gallery & Bakery Tokyo 8 min, Ai Makita's new solo exhibition " Form and Matter " is held from 18 January(Sat), 2025.

This art work can be viewed at the venue.

Ai Makita is based in Tokyo and New York. Her artwork aims to create organic images out of inorganic elements by using mechanical motifs. Also, her theme is to create material and physical works based on two-dimensional digital data. 

In particular, she aspires to bring digital images out into real space as paintings on canvas by composing artefacts such as metals and plastics photographed by herself. 

She has recently  incorporated generative AI into the production of her artwork and her style is not limited to canvas paintings, but also includes video, prints and installations.

After receiving an MFA from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2013, she has been selected for numerous awards, grants and residency programmes in Japan and abroad. ( Terada Art Award,Taro Okamoto Award,Pola Foundation for the Promotion of Art Overseas Dispatch Grant, Rijksakademie { Royal Netherlands Academy } finalist, ART CAKE { New York }, The Fores Project { London }. )

The exhibition title “Form and Matter“ starts with Aristotle’s concept in Greek philosophy. 

We are pleased to feature Makita's new artworks that approach the theme using various methods of expression, such as paintings, prints, drawings, and video works.

Period
18 January (Sat), 2025 - 11 February (Tue), 2025

Venue

Gallery & Bakery Tokyo 8 min

Address

104-0031

TODA BUILDING 1F, 1-7-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Google maps

Opening time
08:00〜19:00

Closing time

None

Admission
Free

Access

3 min walk from exit 6 of Kyobashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.

5 min walk from exit B1 of Nihonbashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.

8 min walk from the Yaesu Central Exit of Tokyo Station on all JR Line.

Tokyo 8 min official Instagram