André Butzer, Anna Park, Ellie Pratt, Hernan Bas, Inka Essenhigh, Julie Curtiss, Katherine Bernhardt, Louise Bonnet, Makoto Taniguchi, Yoshitomo Nara, Shiota Chiharu, Suzuki Takako, Yoon Sangyoon, Jeong Seongjoon

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ATELIER AKI is pleased to present the upcoming group exhibition 《UNFOLDING》, on view from July 1 to August 9, 2025. This curated presentation brings together 14 internationally acclaimed contemporary artists whose practices exemplify the dynamism, diversity, and depth of today’s art landscape. The exhibition centers on the theme of “senses unfolding in the now,” offering a multifaceted exploration of how contemporary art continues to emerge, expand, and shift in response to the ever-evolving societal landscape. The featured artists—André Butzer, Anna Park, Ellie Pratt, Hernan Bas, Inka Essenhigh, Julie Curtiss, Katherine Bernhardt, Louise Bonnet, Makoto Taniguchi, Yoshitomo Nara, Shiota Chiharu, Suzuki Takako, Yoon Sangyoon, and Jeong Seongjoon—actively engage with pressing issues of our time, from identity and memory to ecological fragility and societal transformation and unfold worlds where reality merges with fantasy, traditional dialogues with modernity, and personal narratives with social commentary. In the midst of rapidly shifting societal and artistic landscapes, this exhibition brings together vital, dynamic works of contemporary art—offering a comprehensive view of each artist’s distinct vision and an exploration of how contemporary artistic discourse envisions the future.

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《UNFOLDING》 goes beyond simply presenting and viewing artworks—it captures the immediacy, experimental spirit, and dynamism that unfold through each artist’s practice. Seeking to read the “next” through the sensibilities of the “now,” the exhibition thoughtfully explores how individual artistic perspectives can influence and open up new possibilities within today’s social and cultural landscapes. The 14 participating artists break away from tradition, norms, and the familiar, pushing boundaries through new materials, structures, and visual languages to expand their unique artistic universes. Their works shift between reality and fantasy, traverse the lines between two and three dimensions, and blur the boundaries of figuration and abstraction, awakening the viewer’s perception. In doing so, the exhibition becomes both a vital site of contemporary expression and a collective platform where sensorial voices converge to imagine the future.

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This exhibition presents a multifaceted exploration of the essential questions and imaginative spectrum that define contemporary art today through the distinct visual vocabularies, social themes, and cultural sensibilities of some of today’s most relevant artists.

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Anna Park, a rising star born in 1996 and based in New York, captures the chaos and complexity of urban life through dynamic, grayscale drawings of human figures in contemporary cityscapes. Fellow New York-based artists, Inka Essenhigh explores myth, nature, and psychological realities through a rich palette and dreamlike figurative paintings, crafting imaginative and distorted allegorical worlds. Expanding the dialogue, German artist André Butzer fuses German Expressionism with American pop culture, questioning the existential condition of humanity and the validity of painting itself at the threshold of figuration and abstraction; Louise Bonnet delves into the emotional and physical limits of the human body, using exaggerated and distorted forms to evoke discomfort and raw inner sentiment; and London-based artist Ellie Prat reveals the psychological tension between the self and the unconscious through deconstructed portraits of women and transformed domestic scenes, contemplating the boundaries between interior and exterior worlds.

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Also featured are Julie Curtiss, a rising French artist who gained international acclaim after the value of her works soared by an astonishing 10,000% in just two years, exploring the surreal, the psychological, and the fluidity of self—often through the recurring motif of hair; Hernan Bas, a Miami-born painter widely recognized as one of today’s leading figurative artists, whose richly layered works rendered in vivid color and intricate brushwork draw from literary themes such as Dandyism, Decadence, and Romanticism; Nara Yoshitomo, a central figure of Japan’s Neo-Pop movement, known for his signature characters—wide-eyed, defiant children and animals—that poignantly express the emotional complexity of innocence, anger, solitude, and anxiety; Berlin-based Japanese artist Shiota Chiharu, whose immersive, introspective installations delve into the emotional terrain of human uncertainty; fellow Japanese artist Suzuki Takako, blending elements of everyday life, fantasy, nature, and animal imagery into whimsical, storybook-like compositions; and Makoto Taniguchi, utilizing mirrors and transparent acrylic panels to visually interrogate the threshold between reality and illusion, perception and presence.

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Rounding out the presentation are Katherine Bernhardt, one of the defining figures of American contemporary art, who playfully translates symbols of consumer culture and pop iconography into bold, rhythmic compositions; Yoon Sangyoon, a Korean artist who constructs two contrasting painterly styles using both his right and left hands, offering a distinctive exploration of social structures and the subconscious; and Jeong Seongjoon who presenting allegorical landscapes that illuminate pressing yet often overlooked environmental issues, prompting a deeper reflection on the coexistence between humans and animals.

The participating artists have each explored personal reflections, social observations, and the issues shaping our contemporary moment. Drawing from deeply personal narratives as well as their own experiences of the world, they have developed visual languages across painting, drawing, and various media. Their works internalize the layered complexities of contemporary art, offering expansive perspectives while thoughtfully engaging with core discourses such as identity, social experimentation, and cultural transformation. The exhibition 《UNFOLDING》 brings together the energy and experimental spirit of 14 artists, each of whom has cultivated an independent and compelling artistic world. Through this exhibition, ATELIER AKI aims to provide audiences with a vivid and immersive experience of contemporary art in motion—offering a rare opportunity to engage with the living pulse of today’s contemporary art scene and to witness how the experiments of today evolve into the directions of tomorrow.