Since the late 1980s, Yuji Akatsuka has continuously explored the possibilities of pictorial space through printmaking and painting. He continues to deepen his practice through an earnest engagement with painting as an unknown and ever-unfolding space. Akatsuka’s career has been shaped not only through numerous exhibitions in Japan and the inclusion of his works in museum collections, but also through his engagement with younger artists as an educator and through a wide-ranging artistic practice. However, his activities have largely remained within Japan for many years. This presentation at LISTE marks an opportunity to introduce Akatsuka’s practice to an international audience after many years.

Akatsuka’s paintings are rooted in bodily gestures and the traces left through the act of painting itself. Through wavering lines, layered forms, and ambiguous shapes, his works evoke a sense of fluctuation in which something seems to emerge while simultaneously disappearing. While the compositions may recall everyday forms such as landscapes, maps, architecture, or magazine covers, they never fully resolve into recognizable images. By sustaining this suspended state—where an image appears on the verge of becoming identifiable yet remains elusive—Akatsuka explores a particular sense of fascination and tension. Lacking a fixed center or stable point of gravity, the interaction between emergence and dissolution generates a rich pictorial space.

We hope viewers will experience the sense of joy that emerges through the act of constructing pictorial space, along with the layered accumulation of time embedded within the work.