Taka Ishii Gallery presents "HOTEL PARAISO", Tomoo Gokita's first solo exhibition in Hong Kong showcasing new paintings at McNamara Art Projects. Gokita was born in 1969, Tokyo. His early work comprised of drawings from pencil, charcoal and ink on paper that gained attention in the late 1990s. A book collecting the same works was published in 2000, named Lingerie Wrestling. After exhibiting in New York, Gokita was featured in a stream of solo exhibitions around the world including 'The Unseen Relationship: Form and Abstraction' at the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museym of Art in 2012 and 'THE GREAT CIRCUS' in 2014. 

"HOTEL PARAISO" is an imaginary location where unique individuals have gathered. Gokita has produced black and white gouache paintings inspired by magazines and photographs from the 1960s and 1970s. By employing a collage-like approach to produce paintings of varying subjects including portraits, still-life and abstract work that are expressive in and sophisticatedly finished. The fictional representations are inspired by the Japanese artist's fragmentary memories of his trip to Mexico and his childhood through Haruomi Hosono's 1978 "Paraiso" album. The characters in the space of this hotel houses a stage for each of their feelings and secrets.

Check out "HOTEL PARAISO" open from January 12th to February 10th 2018 at McNamara Art Projects Hong Kong. Coming up in April 2018, a solo exhibition of Gokita's works will be held at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery.