NEW YORK, NY.- GR gallery is presenting Excavation Record I – Sayonara, the first solo exhibition in the United States by Japanese artist Kosuke Ajiro. The exhibition introduces Ajiro’s distinctive practice through the figure of the archeologist, who ventures into a whimsical and enigmatic imagined realm known as the “Kingdom of Sally.” Across the exhibition, each work reveals a fragment of this mysterious world, uncovering earthbound creatures and curious details before opening onto a vast, fantastical expanse. Moving between the familiar and the otherworldly, Ajiro’s works invite the viewer on a journey of mystery, magic, transformation, and discovery. As the story gradually reveals itself, viewers are invited to witness the rise and fall of the ‘Kingdom of Sally’ and participate in piecing together the discovered fragments that will one day rest in a temple dedicated to the art of storytelling.
In Excavation Record I – Sayonara, Ajiro presents a body of mythology originating from the kingdom known as the “Sally Mythology.” The seventh chapter of this mythos, Sayonara, is believed to recount the end of the world, depicting a cataclysmic event comparable to Ragnarök in Norse mythology. Adopting the persona of an excavator, Ajiro positions himself not as the creator of these artworks, but as an archeologist and historian uncovering, reconditioning and presenting traces of a lost civilization. The exhibition unveils thirty artifacts as revealed historical fragments of an ancient mural excavated near Tokyo Skytree, depicting the events of Sayonara which Ajiro then restored onto canvas. By placing himself within the mythology and inviting viewers to assume the role of fellow discoverers, Ajiro creates an immersive narrative where the pieces act as records of the kingdom, tracing it from ancient times to its demise during the medieval period.
As a child, Ajiro often drew figures casually, without thinking much about them. One day, as if by some kind of revelation, one of these figures was given the name “Sally”. The story soon began to unfurl as Sally became a servant of the king, then the queen of the kingdom, and eventually advanced to the rank of goddess. As the excavation progressed, not only humans and animals were uncovered, but also deities and mythical beasts. The story expanded across a prologue, eight chapters, and an epilogue, tracing the world from the darkness of creation through the rise and eventual fall of the kingdom, as well as the aftermath. With a cast of approximately 3,000 characters, the mythology encompasses intricate histories, languages, cultures, belief systems, and social structures, creating an expansive civilization that feels both fantastical and remarkably complete. Excavation Record I – Sayonara presents pieces of this story through heavy stylistic inspirations from Japanese narrative scrolls, medieval European manuscripts, artifacts and art, with a special heed toward the work of Hieronymus Bosch. At the heart of Ajiro’s practice, we see a continual transformation between realms and dimensions, rooted in an imagined world, he claims as always having existed within him. What began with a single casually drawn figure has burst forth into an ongoing, meticulously detailed project in which the narrative advances from work to work and accumulates year after year. Through extensive planning and painstaking execution, Ajiro develops the ‘Kingdom of Sally’ with the complexity and internal consistency of a true historical civilization.
Excavation Record I- Sayonara moves through Ajiro’s world allowing the divine to coexist with the damned and the beautiful to mingle with the grotesque and horrific. Within this chaos he continuously aims to reveal the entirety of the ‘Kingdom of Sally’ through paintings driven by fantasy, whimsy, the subconscious and a longing for an alternative and adventurous life.
