SAIAKUNANA: Rebel Pink

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Who is SAIAKUNANA? She’s a girl born in the ’90s in the countryside of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

A manga fanatic in her youth, she was the embodiment of an “otaku” and was scrutinized for her passion.

To say pink is her favorite color would be an understatement. She insisted on graduating with her blond hairstyle, and her quirky outlook ultimately prevented her from finding a normal nine-to-five job.

Obsessed with artistic creations, she found that her works were often scorned by others, resulting in online bullying and people saying her work is “saiaku,” which translates into “being inferior to others.”

Always the outcast, NANA is adamant about not succumbing to mainstream values. She even named herself SAIAKUNANA, turning her supposed flaw and her creations into a weapon with which she finds solace in defending what she believes in. Her creativity was finally affirmed when she received the Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art, and she has since traveled abroad as a successful artist. Her works have attracted attention in the global art circle and have been offered at auction multiple times in recent years.

As Japanese art critic Noi Sawaragi said, “Negative energy can become a tremendous driving force for new artistic creation.”

Presented by WAY by Way of Difference, the SAIAKUNANA Hong Kong Solo Exhibition Rebel Pink will exhibit eight paintings of her new HANA series on site, along with a selected collection of her collages, paintings, and sketches. The venue will also be transformed into SAIAKUNANA’s creative workshop, thoroughly presenting her rock ‘n’ roll musical world, stories of struggle and growth, and aspects of her daily life.

About SAIAKUNANA’s HANA series

HANA is a painting series to which SAIAKUNANA attaches great importance, as the paintings depict the search for her inner self at a British park.

SAIAKUNANA has pledged to “dedicate her life to the art she wants to create.” In 2020, the Japanese girl made an influential decision for her life and career—to move to the United Kingdom for art. Hardly able to speak English, SAIAKUNANA had a challenging two years opening her gallery and joining the art circle. There were days when she sat alone in the park, listening to her favorite music and questioning everything about herself. SAIAKUNANA started this HANA series a few months before she went back to Japan. She realized her days in the UK were so memorable and precious that she found the urge to celebrate those days with her paintings. Through her creations, SAIAKUNANA revisits the calming park, recalling those challenging yet rewarding moments in life.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Born in 1992 in Japan, SAIAKUNANA started her career with the name NANA. When her paintings were criticized as “saiaku”, which means “terrible” in Japanese, she added this term to her name.

With her installation piece Art is Rock and Roll, SAIAKUNANA was awarded the grand prize at the 21st Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art in 2018. She held her first solo exhibition in New York with the money that came with the prize. In over ten years of her career, SAIAKUNANA never joined any gallery. In 2021, she decided to set up her gallery, which shows her works exclusively in London.

SAIAKUNANA works with different media in her creative process. The subjects of her paintings are always coated with child-like innocence, hiding a rebellious soul underneath. Her works are often seen in music collaborations and publications.