Ataru Sato
5 September - 26 October, 2019
Office Baroque, Brussels
Office Baroque is pleased to announce the first individual exhibition of Ataru Sato at our gallery on Bloemenhofplein in Brussels. This is the artist’s first solo presentation in Europe.
In his work, Ataru Sato shows the dualities of life by deeply questioning his own soul and his interactions with the world around him. Life, sexuality and happiness, but also death, decay and sadness are simultaneously present in his work. His intriguing and expressive use of pencil lines and colour reflects these introspective fascinations and obsessions.
What does it mean to understand others? Can we survive without being connected to each other? Driven by these questions, Sato creates a highly erotic, almost psychedelic universe where personal fears, loves and intimacies are depicted.
“If I draw, then it becomes “a thing”, and so I feel less alone.
I always feel alone, therefore I always draw.
Every time I don’t feel well, I pick up a pen with this idea in mind.
People exist on the surface.
I cannot access your inner self.
I’d like to transform myself into images to be able to access it.”
Ataru Sato
Tokyo
Installation view Ataru Sato, Office Baroque, Brussels, 2019
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Installation view Ataru Sato, Office Baroque, Brussels, 2019
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Installation view Ataru Sato, Office Baroque, Brussels, 2019
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Ataru Sato, Division, 2019, Pencil on paper and paper collage mounted on paper, 41 × 52 cm 16 (1/8 × 20 1/2 in)
Ataru Sato, Over the rainbow, 2019, Mixed media on canvas mounted on wooden box, 40 × 29.8 × 5.8 cm (15 3/4 × 11 3/4 × 2 1/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Over the rainbow, 2019, Mixed media on canvas mounted on wooden box, 40 × 29.8 × 5.8 cm (15 3/4 × 11 3/4 × 2 1/4 in)
Ataru Sato, 0.01mm, 2019, Acrylic, oil on canvas, 53.2 × 33.5 cm (13 1/4 × 9 5/8 in)
Ataru Sato, Rain, 2019, Oil on canvas mounted on panel, 27.2 × 22.4 cm (3/4 × 8 7/8 in)
Ataru Sato, Afternoon, 2019, Acrylic, oil on panel, 36.3 × 27.5 cm (14 1/4 × 10 7/8 in)
Ataru Sato, Sincerely, 2019, Oil on panel, 30 × 30 cm (11 3/4 × 11 3/4 in)
Ataru Sato, You are not alone, 2019, Oil on panel, 30 × 30 cm (11 3/4 × 11 3/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Friend, 2019, Pencil on paper and paper collage mounted on panel
42 × 29.7 cm (16 1/2 × 11 3/4 in)
Installation view, L’Hôte, 2019, Office Baroque, Brussels
Ataru Sato, Unfixed, 2019, Acrylic, oil, pencil on panel, 42 × 29.7 cm (16 1/2 × 11 3/4 in)
Ataru Sato, I’m yours, 2019, Oil on panel, 36.3 × 51.4 cm (14 1/4 × 20 1/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Tomorrow, 2019, Acrylic, ink and paper collage on canvas
53.2 × 33.5 cm (21 × 13 1/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Goddess, 2019, Pencil on paper and paper collage mounted on panel
65.4 × 50 cm (25 3/4 × 19 3/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Sky cube, 2019, Mixed media on canvas mounted on wooden box, 31 × 27 × 7.4 cm (12 1/4 × 10 5/8 × 2 7/8 in)
Ataru Sato, Catastrophe, 2017, Pencil on paper and paper collage mounted on panel, 36.4 × 25.7 cm (14 1/4 × 10 in)
Installation view Ataru Sato, Office Baroque, Brussels, 2019
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Installation view Ataru Sato, Office Baroque, Brussels, 2019
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Ataru Sato, Midnight Nightingales, 2019, Oil and ink on canvas, mounted on panel, 45.5 × 27.3 cm (17 7/8 × 10 3/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Daydream, 2019, Acrylic, pencil on paper collage mounted on panel, 27.2 × 22.4 cm (10 3/4 × 8 7/8 in)
Ataru Sato, Warning bell, 2019, Acrylic ink on paper and paper collage mounted on panel, 26 × 18.4 cm (10 1/4 × 7 1/4 in)
Ataru Sato, + –, 2018, Oil on canvas, 24.3 × 33.4 cm (9 5/8 × 13 1/8 in)
Ataru Sato, Ananas, 2019, Oil and ink on canvas, mounted on panel 41 × 49 cm (16 1/8 × 19 1/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Apparaître, 2018, Pencil on paper and paper collage mounted on panel, 73 × 51.6 cm (28 3/4 × 20 1/4 in)
Ataru Sato, Neko, 2019, Acrylic, color pencil, ink, oil pastel on paper and paper collage mounted on panel, 42 × 29.7 cm (16 1/2 × 11 3/4 in)
Installation view Ataru Sato, Office Baroque, Brussels, 2019
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Ataru Sato, Hospital, 2018, Acrylic, ink, oil on panel
42 × 29 cm (16 1/2 × 11 3/8 in)
Ataru Sato, Chill, 2018, Oil on canvas mounted on board
36.2 × 25.7 cm (14 1/4 × 10 1/8 in)
About Ataru Sato
Artist page
Ataru Sato (b.1986 Chiba, Japan) currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. He is known for creating drawings, paintings and collages with a seemingly excessive, obsessive use of pencil lines. His imagery looks as if it proliferates endlessly through his intricate compositions, representing the artist’s earnest attempt to connect with the world and understand himself through the act of drawing.
Previous solo shows include KOSAKU KANECHIKA (2018, 2017) and Gallery Koyanagi (2015, 2011); Tokyo; Mehr (Midtown), New York. Major group presentations include Dojima River Biennale, Osaka (2019), Interpretations, Tokyo (curated by Dries Van Noten) at The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2019); Inside, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2014); Yokohama Triennale Our magic hour – How Much of the World Can We Know?, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama (2011) and 8th Gwangju Biennale 10,000 lives, Gwangju (2010).
His work is part of the TAKAHASHI COLLECTION, Tokyo; Louis Vuitton Malletier, Paris and the Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, USA.