English below
SHIKISAISHA is pleased to present “MJD＋1,” a memorial exhibition honoring the creative legacy of mizu (1966–2025), an artist who tirelessly explored a unique world of abstraction throughout his career.Mizu Tetsuo passed away from pneumonia on January 30, 2025. This exhibition is organized together with Jyushin Hirasawa and Isamu Daigo, two artists with whom he shared a deep personal and artistic relationship, and is timed to coincide with mizu’s birthday, December 13, as a tribute to his life and work.
The title “MJD” represents the three artists—mizu, Hirasawa, and Daigo. The addition of “＋1” signifies the project’s other central concept: a dedicated space to invite a new artist each year. Anchored by the expressions of these three, the exhibition is conceived as an ongoing series in which SHIKISAISHA selects one emerging or mid-career artist to introduce a fresh perspective, extending the dialogue into the future.
For the inaugural edition, we welcome Yasufumi Oyama, an artist who constructs a distinct visual world through photography.Oyama has rapidly gained recognition, receiving the Special Prize at the 27th TARO Award (2024) and the Grand Prize at the 4th Makurazaki International Art Award Exhibition (2025). His works, which capture both the presence of the subject and an invisible sense of time, resonate with the fundamental inquiries shared by the three artists—questions of seeing, of giving form, and of tracing the boundaries between perception and imagination. His practice introduces a new dimension to this exhibition.
“MJD＋1” is a project that seeks both continuity and renewal: honoring mizu’s creative spirit while opening the door each year to a new artistic voice. By reflecting on the trajectories of these three artists and inviting encounters with different generations and sensibilities, we hope this exhibition will carry forward the sense of freedom in creation that mizu embodied.
English below
SHIKISAISHA is pleased to present “MJD＋1,” a memorial exhibition honoring the creative legacy of mizu (1966–2025), an artist who tirelessly explored a unique world of abstraction throughout his career.Mizu Tetsuo passed away from pneumonia on January 30, 2025. This exhibition is organized together with Jyushin Hirasawa and Isamu Daigo, two artists with whom he shared a deep personal and artistic relationship, and is timed to coincide with mizu’s birthday, December 13, as a tribute to his life and work.
The title “MJD” represents the three artists—mizu, Hirasawa, and Daigo. The addition of “＋1” signifies the project’s other central concept: a dedicated space to invite a new artist each year. Anchored by the expressions of these three, the exhibition is conceived as an ongoing series in which SHIKISAISHA selects one emerging or mid-career artist to introduce a fresh perspective, extending the dialogue into the future.
For the inaugural edition, we welcome Yasufumi Oyama, an artist who constructs a distinct visual world through photography.Oyama has rapidly gained recognition, receiving the Special Prize at the 27th TARO Award (2024) and the Grand Prize at the 4th Makurazaki International Art Award Exhibition (2025). His works, which capture both the presence of the subject and an invisible sense of time, resonate with the fundamental inquiries shared by the three artists—questions of seeing, of giving form, and of tracing the boundaries between perception and imagination. His practice introduces a new dimension to this exhibition.
“MJD＋1” is a project that seeks both continuity and renewal: honoring mizu’s creative spirit while opening the door each year to a new artistic voice. By reflecting on the trajectories of these three artists and inviting encounters with different generations and sensibilities, we hope this exhibition will carry forward the sense of freedom in creation that mizu embodied.
Jyushin Hirasawa
Born in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1948. A member of the Jiyu Bijutsu Association since 1978. Since the 1990s, the artist has presented works primarily through solo exhibitions. Through distinctive compositions based on dispersed motifs, the artist explores the reconstruction of memory and landscape. Working across a range of media—including oil painting, ink, and reverse glass painting—the practice investigates the structure and dynamism of pictorial space itself.
Born in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1948. A member of the Jiyu Bijutsu Association since 1978. Since the 1990s, the artist has presented works primarily through solo exhibitions. Through distinctive compositions based on dispersed motifs, the artist explores the reconstruction of memory and landscape. Working across a range of media—including oil painting, ink, and reverse glass painting—the practice investigates the structure and dynamism of pictorial space itself.
Tetsuo Mizu
Tetsuo Mizu
A painter who gained recognition in the 1980s with his “Flag Series.”
By combining international maritime signal flags,
he developed a unique visual language that merges symbolic systems with abstraction.
Based in Italy, France, and Spain,
he exhibited widely and received critical acclaim in Europe.
His works are characterized by finely structured compositions,
with matte, volumetric surfaces that have been noted for their affinity with ukiyo-e.
Tetsuo Mizu
A painter who gained recognition in the 1980s with his “Flag Series.”
By combining international maritime signal flags,
he developed a unique visual language that merges symbolic systems with abstraction.
Based in Italy, France, and Spain,
he exhibited widely and received critical acclaim in Europe.
His works are characterized by finely structured compositions,
with matte, volumetric surfaces that have been noted for their affinity with ukiyo-e.
Yasufumi Oyama
Yasufumi Oyama
Born in Kanagawa in 1987.
Working with photography as his primary medium,
he reconstructs fragments of memory and time.
Through collaging images captured during his travels,
he layers moments of encounter, discovery, and surprise.
His works—oscillating between intensity and stillness,
boldness and delicacy—evoke the presence of unseen time and existence.
Yasufumi Oyama
Born in Kanagawa in 1987.
Working with photography as his primary medium,
he reconstructs fragments of memory and time.
Through collaging images captured during his travels,
he layers moments of encounter, discovery, and surprise.
His works—oscillating between intensity and stillness,
boldness and delicacy—evoke the presence of unseen time and existence.
