Hagiwara Projects is pleased to announce its relocation to the second floor of the Piramide Building in Roppongi, Tokyo. To inaugurate the new space, the gallery will present She is Making A Spectacle Out Of Herself, a solo exhibition by Anna Gaskell, opening on July 11.

Born in the United States in 1969, Anna Gaskell received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA from Yale University. She is currently based in Los Angeles. Gaskell first gained international recognition for her early photographic works, in which young girls were staged within carefully constructed, theatrical settings. Since then, she has expanded her practice beyond photography to include painting and video.

For this exhibition, Gaskell presents a new body of oil paintings. While firmly rooted in figuration, her works often carry an air of mystery, suggesting narratives that remain just beyond reach. Rendered with bold outlines and opaque colors, her subjects are primarily girls and young women. Their expressions and circumstances are never fully explained, leaving room for viewers to form their own interpretations.

In a painting titled Role Model, a young woman wearing a sash-like banner bearing the word “smug” stands surrounded by a crowd. Is she quietly enduring the expectations and gaze placed upon her as an idealized female figure? Or does she stand confidently within that role, receiving admiration and praise? In other works, women with noticeable belly are juxtaposed with a solitary woman standing outdoors, while another scene depicts a young girl appears to be encouraged to climb a staircase.

While the exact meaning of these works is never openly explained, these scenes—evoking moments from a movie or a play—powerfully spark the viewer's imagination. Gaskell has consistently explored themes of female identity, social expectations, inner conflict, and the question of how one chooses to live. Reflecting on this new body of work, the artist has said that the word “Companion” remained in her mind throughout the process. Meaning a friend, partner, or fellow traveler, the term raises questions about who women choose to share their lives with, as well as ideas of support, loneliness, and relationships between women. Embedded within these works is Gaskell's a subtle yet perceptive reflection on women's lives today and the expectations and perceptions imposed upon them by society.

Anna Gaskell

Born in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, Anna Gaskell lives and works in Los Angeles. She received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University.　Gaskell has presented solo exhibitions at galleries including Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, and Yvon Lambert, Paris, as well as at institutions such as the Des Moines Art Center (2020), Kunsthalle Giessen (2018), Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (2016), and Städtische Galerie Bremen (2015). Her work is held in the collections of major museums including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles; and Tate, London.