Brief encounter, gazebo

The exhibition programme of am projects continues with a solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Yuko Shiraishi, organized in collaboration with Annely Juda Fine Art, London. Shiraishi first visited Budapest in 1985, when she participated in the international group exhibition Day art. Thirteen years later, in 1998, her minimalist paintings were featured in a solo show at the Ernst Museum in Budapest. Now, twenty-six years on, she returns to Hungary with a new solo exhibition showcasing her installation Brief encounter – gazebo. Alongside her installation at am projects, Shiraishi’s paintings will also be on view in the group exhibition at Ani Molnár Gallery.

‘A gazebo is usually located in a garden or a park, where you can take in the view around you - a view capturing a moment of time and of space. It’s like you are in a little concentrated cosmos. I’ve been interested in sky, space, light, and clouds, and for this project - another in my Imaginary Architecture series - I chose to explore iridescent clouds, sometimes known as "rainbow clouds," a meteorological phenomenon characterized by vibrant, colourful bands appearing on thin, semitransparent clouds. John Constable was always very interested in clouds, and did so many studies and paintings of them.

Within a gazebo you see clouds and a sky that is never exactly the same as it is at any other time; wherever you stand and at whatever time, you never see the same view. There is a word in Japanese philosophy, Ichigo ichie, meaning "a single meeting in a lifetime" or "one life, one encounter." It's a concept that encourages the appreciation of every moment and encounter as unique and precious, recognising that each one will never be exactly the same as another. It also applies to people, that you should appreciate the moments of meeting and being with people.’