Artist: Unknown
Exhibition title: Haus der Matsubara
Venue: Brennan & Griffin, New York, US
Date: January 11 – February 8, 2020
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Brennan & Griffin, New York
Brennan & Griffin is very pleased to present Soshiro Matsubara’s “Haus der Matsubara,” a curated presentation of objects from the artist’s personal collection of artworks acquired from antique shops, second hand stores, and other unconventional sources.
The visual poetry found in Matsubara’s work is casual, funny and sometimes profound- invisible, or subtle rather, in ways that make the back of your brain chuckle, a cognitive pause, as you absorb the concept, or realize the absurd, edging the obvious while maintaining soulful mystery.
It is not difficult to visualize this presentation of collected artifacts -“Haus der Matsubara,” as a meaningful extension of Matsubara’s artistic practice, not a side gig or irrelevant indulgence. Here we witness an artist editing a complex story of chance operation, constructed and told using “found” elements, in this case the discarded, donated and sold off creative expressions of the multitude- exposing us to a kind of real world aesthetic, that of the banal, kitsch, abandoned, and straight up bizarre, employing a familiar and fiendish hunt for uncanny expression. It is also a generous gesture, devoid of irony, for the artist to share, and allow us to explore his collection. In the social media age, Matsubara has expanded the artists’ platform of visibility and showcase for these treasures, successfully creating an Instagram page for “Haus der Matsubara”, inviting viewers to explore and often buy works online.
Matsubara offers us the opportunity to glimpse the material that informs and motivates him, potentially seeing universal passion and experience through a broad cross section of the handmade. The consistency of vision on his part is undeniable: it’s as if the magician is revealing the secrets which propel the need for deeper secrets, when words are useless, and melancholy romance elicits a hopeful sigh.
Soshiro Matsubara (b. 1980, Hokkaido, Japan) lives and works in Vienna. He is co-director of XYZcollective. Recent exhibitions include Freedman Fitzpatrick, Los Angeles; Brennan & Griffin, NY; Misako & Rosen, Tokyo; Galeria Dawid Radziszewski, Warsaw; XYZcollective, Tokyo; Paramount Ranch 3, XYZcollective, Los Angeles; Pollock Gallery, Dallas; statements, Tokyo; Bel Ami, Los Angeles; Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago; 356mission, Los Angeles.
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Haus der Matsubara, 2020, exhibition view, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Unknown, sunset, unknown year, oil on board
Unknown, Andre Masson (98% fake), 1937, oil on canvas
Unknown, Dogs and Fruits, unknown year, oil on canvas
Unknown, untitled, unknown year, oil on board
Unknown, untitled, unknown year, oil on canvas
Unknown, dog, woman and old woman with glass, unknown year, pencil on paper
Unknown, dog, woman and old woman with glass, unknown year, pencil on paper
Unknown, HERMA, unknown year, pastel on paper
Unknown, three women conversation, unknown year, pencil on paper
Unknown, Michael Jackson in white tiger, unknown year, oil on canvas