[Solo Exhibition] Painting Tokyo Under the Pandemic — Koichi Enomoto "NEW LIFE!!" at TARO NASU

Koichi Enomoto “NEW LIFE!!”

We visited Koichi Enomoto’s solo exhibition “NEW LIFE!!” at TARO NASU.

Titled “NEW LIFE!!,” this solo exhibition is set in Tokyo, a city being transformed by the impact of the novel coronavirus.

“The phrase ‘new lifestyle,’ coined by politicians, has changed the meaning of the word ‘new’ — a word that, in phrases like ‘new computer’ or ‘new art,’ used to carry dreams and hope. But this change was not a vivid revolution; rather, it came in a form close to imposition.

I painted every work with the question in mind: What was the ‘new life’ that should originally have been born from some trigger, or gradually? And what kind of painting is possible under the ‘new life’ we are now living?

I was also asking: Can the concept of ‘new’ and the direction of society continue as they have been up to now? These were the thoughts behind creating this body of work.”