From the press release: The Hole is proud to announce our fourth solo exhibition by Misaki Kawai at the gallery. Following up Hair Show, (2013), Cave Life (2016) and Pine Cone Times (2018) we are very psyched to learn what Moko Moko Doki Doki will be! As in the painting above Misaki will be exhibiting her first text paintings, and while we are sure there will be Doki Doki (excited, heartbeat), Misaki also exhibits giant fluffy sculpture providing the Moko Moko or “fluffy”.
Building on her work from the Honolulu Biennial and the current National Gallery of Victoria Triennial in Australia, Misaki shares open and inviting works with the public to build connection through art. Her giant pettable, combable sculptures have rudimentary faces like emojis and are rated G, all ages. The paintings circulate faces and text to show the rudimentary building blocks of the world, “chu” (kiss), “suki” (like), “peko peko” (hungry), “pero pero” (licking), “kuru kuru” (spinning). Using mimetic word pairings Kawai creates a zone of creative play; bold, colorful and immersive.
Kawai has held exhibitions around the world, including the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; Malmö Konsthall in Sweden; Children’s Museum of Arts in New York; and the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. Her works have been featured in group exhibitions at MoMA PS1 and Deitch Projects in New York. Kawai has had recent solo exhibitions in Tokyo with Take Ninagawa and V1 in Copenhagen, as well as a traveling exhibition in South Korea. Check out her current works at the National Gallery of Victoria Triennial, and the book she made for the exhibition, HERE.
