Yu Tsukada | A Theory of Reiwa-Era Illustration Exhibitions: ① Exhibitions Becoming 'Team Battles' and Their Leader, Mika Pikazo
Yu Tsukada examines 2020s Japanese illustration exhibitions as team-driven spatial productions, focusing on Mika Pikazo and others.Summary
This is the first installment of a three-part essay by critic Yu Tsukada on how, since around 2020, exhibitions by Japanese illustrators have shifted from conventional displays centered on framed two-dimensional works toward team-driven productions that employ elaborate spatial staging and diverse digital outputs. As illustrator Torako notes, recent solo exhibitions operate through a division of labor: the artist concentrates on drawing while separate specialist staff handle spatial design, design, material procurement, and fabrication. Kei Mochizuki's solo exhibition "Zokuse" featured exhibition direction by Tomoyuki Arima, with themed wall coloring and dynamic work placement that created a space in which viewers are surrounded by images. The essay focuses on Mika Pikazo, known for illustrations that scatter near-primary reds, blues, and yellows around characters; she designed the VTuber Kaguya Luna in 2017. Across four solo exhibitions she has built elaborate spatial compositions including lighting and fixtures, presenting UV prints on acrylic, works whose imagery emerges through flash photography, layered structures of objects in acrylic boxes, and video and sculptural works. "ILY GIRL" explored the whole space as an installation, while "UNDER VOYAGER" constructed the venue as a narrative and was explicitly framed as contemporary art. Pikazo repeatedly uses single-pipe scaffolding, echoing the alternative stance toward the white cube seen in Chim↑Pom and ARTISTS' FAIR KYOTO. She also directed the exhibition "Kanjō-ten," and while strongly committed to the exhibition format, she describes her aim as pursuing "artistic expression born from entertainment," positioning her practice as an extension of entertainment.
(Source：artscape)