Tetsuya Ishida: My Anxious Self

by Cecilia Alemani (contributor), Kōbō Abe (contributor), Larry Gagosian (contributor)

This book was published on the occasion of Tetsuya Ishida: My Anxious Self at Gagosian, 555 West 24th Street, New York. Curated by Cecilia Alemani, My Anxious Self was the most comprehensive exhibition of the late artist’s work to have been staged outside of Japan, and his first ever in New York.

Over the course of just ten years, Ishida produced a striking body of work centered on the theme of human alienation. He emerged as an artist during Japan’s “Lost Decade,” a recession that lasted through the 1990s, and his paintings capture the feelings of hopelessness, claustrophobia, and disconnection that characterized Japanese society during this time. Before his untimely death in 2005, Ishida conjured allegories of the challenges of contemporary life in paintings and works on paper charged with Kafkaesque absurdity.

The catalogue reproduces more than ninety works in color and features a foreword by Larry Gagosian, an introduction by Michiaki Ishida, illustrated essays by Alemani and Diethard Leopold, and “The Red Cocoon,” a short story about a surreal metamorphosis by award-winning Japanese writer Kobo Abe.

Genres: Art

216 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Bill Hsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky to discover Ishida's work a couple months ago at his show at the Gagosian. More on Ishida here (just check out the amazing images);
https://gagosian.com/quarterly/2022/0...

Obviously I love the dream-like quality, darkness and anxiety. I'm also very impressed with the obsessive detail in the paintings, like some of my favorite manga, where the detailing seemed lavished on an unimportant object or backdrop. There's the shadow of cabinet handle, the weave of a glove, and fonts on product packaging, rendered in an extremely realistic fashion.

This is kind of a cookie-cutter gallery catalog, but nicely done. 5 stars for Ishida's art.

[Leonardo Prado · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel as if it were yesterday that I was learning Spanish on a field trip to see Tetsuya Ishida’s work. I remember it as a shock, because I wasn’t prepared at all. It was early in the morning and, since it was a field trip, the main subject seemed to be: let’s practice some Spanish. But the moment I stepped inside the gallery, I was completely and utterly surrendered.
Like a train rushing past me, the paintings seized my attention in an invasive, almost deafening way. These vacant-looking figures—merging with both technology and nature—were as silent as a subway at rush hour. Cruel and dry, they depicted reality in a way I had never seen before (or since), rendering me a forever fan of Tetsuya’s work.
What a beautiful new obsession. From the very beginning, I knew that if I embraced Reo’s idea of art consumption, there would be places I simply had to visit. I’m glad I could start with Tetsuya.

Stars: 5