Art ENCOUNTERS #9

English below SHABA is pleased to present a solo exhibition by contemporary artist Taro Yakumo as part of SHIKISAISHA’s exhibition series Art ENCOUNTERS vol.9. In conjunction with this presentation, a selection of works will also be shown at OMIYA ART WALL. Born to an art dealer father and a metal engraver mother, Yakumo grew up in an environment where art was always close at hand. His encounter with music during his youth awakened a deep longing for expressive practice, which later expanded as he engaged with art scenes both in Japan and abroad—particularly through formative experiences in Korea. These encounters led him to develop a unique pop-influenced visual language that playfully yet critically challenges existing values. His core belief that “art is entertainment” runs consistently through his practice as an essential guiding principle. This exhibition presents a cross-section of Yakumo’s ongoing bodies of work. The Floppy series takes center stage. Using the now-obsolete floppy disk as an icon, Yakumo overlays it with glitch-like graphics reminiscent of early Famicom video games—visual memories deeply rooted in Japanese subculture. By doing so, he vividly reveals the nostalgia embedded in the digital age and the humor inherent in the rapid evolution (and disappearance) of technology. Works such as Floppy (Super Mario Bros.), Floppy (TwinBee), and Floppy (Super Dodge Ball) will be featured, inviting viewers across generations to share a sense of cultural resonance. Conversely, the #hashtag series adopts the structure of a smartphone screen to explore the consumption and circulation of language in the era of AI and social media. Hashtags such as #survivor and #tuesdayvibe accumulate across the surface, creating lively, colorful compositions that simultaneously expose the instability and information overload of contemporary society. Newly created works—including #hashtag20240313—will also be included in the presentation. The collage work WHO ARE YOU reconstructs images sourced from magazines to disrupt fixed perceptions, playfully examining the instability of identity within a world saturated by visual information. This exhibition also introduces a newer direction in Yakumo’s practice: the NES series, including NES (TwinBee) and NES (PACLAND). By transforming familiar Famicom cartridge imagery into paintings, Yakumo highlights the cultural memory embedded in these everyday objects, re-editing them into a contemporary visual archive. For Yakumo, creating art means reviving familiar symbols and elements of mass culture—breathing new life into shared memories, desires, and nostalgia, and transforming them into forms that can be enjoyed once again. His works weave together past and present, analog and digital, personal recollection and social iconography, offering viewers renewed perspectives on the images that shape our world. Presented across SHABA and OMIYA ART WALL, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience the breadth of Yakumo’s pop-infused visual archive. We look forward to welcoming you.