What is that activity which is best? To change implies there is a beginning which is not perfect; for to move to an end freely is to experience what is not present; for if the best were present, one would not need to move to begin with.

‘Untitled’, n.d. Kenzi Shiokava.
Wood, minerals. dried materials
16 x 11 1/2 x 4 in
40.6 x 29.2 x 10.2 cm. Courtesy the artist and Nonoka-Gallery. All Rights Reserved.

Unchanging is the idea ubiquitously expressed by the Japanese artist Kenzi Shiokava-san at Nonaka-Hill. Renown for his wooden sculptural ideas, and I am particularly fond of the eeriness to the simplicity of the transmundane of his telephone polls.

‘Unititled;, n.d. Kenzi Shiokava. Wood. 78 x 16 x 12 in 198.1 x 40.6 x 30.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist’s estate and/or descendants and Nonaka-Hill. Copyright All Rights Reserved.

Late in his age he began working more with the stillness of life, though stone media does not have that quintessential biogenesis. Nevertheless, these untitled pieces present to us an affirmation of intrinsic goodness which is past the frenzy of imagination.

Here, in his portraiture – but also a grander display work with a proudly obsidian mass weighing its bottom identity – there is that eternity the artist is affirming to be truly beautiful. At first irked that the preservation by the artist is not more enticing, it is here with patience I affirm his canvassing of the stone, of the flower, of, yes, a preserved citrus! Such an enticement onto longevity, with a keen recognition of the famed moniker on perfection:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

For more information, please contact the gallery:

Nonaka-Hill

720 N. Highland Avenue,

Los Angeles, CA 90038

Tel. +1 323 450 9409

Hours: Tuesday -Saturday, 12:00 – 18:00 or by appointment