WHAT
The Japanese artist is known for fusing elements from traditional Japanese art and contemporary culture. The collection of works in the exhibition features the artist’s two daughters as the heroines, creating a fusion of borrowed images from masters in painting ranging from Rousseau, Bosch, Pieter Brueghel, and Michelangelo. These ‘borrowed images’ are grounded in the Japanese tradition of ‘shyakkei’ (borrowed landscape), in which nearby natural landmarks are used as the backdrop to the design of a garden, making for a most interesting juxtaposition.

WHY
Creating a dreamlike fantasy world that blends Japanese and Western traditions, the exhibition reveals Watanabe’s aesthetic exploration between past and present, tradition and modernity. Set against a backdrop of Baroque paintings, along with contemporary references, the sweet girls’ innocent facial expressions contrast with the surreal or mythical world they find themselves in. Experience for yourself the artist’s whimsical imagination and delivery of deadpan humour.