Sebastian Gladstone debuts “Wicked City,” the first US solo exhibition of London-based Japanese artist Motoko Ishibashi. The exhibition opened on January 7,  2023 at the Hollywood gallery, and will run through February 11, 2023.

Motoko Ishibashi, BBB_4, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60″H x 60″W

Ishibashi will present new paintings further developing her series of exaggerated female figures, as well as a new series of ceramics made as part of the collaborative duo “Willowfuck” with Robin von Einsiedel. The title for the exhibition comes from the 1987 sci-fi anime film by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, in which erotic–violent–supernatural female characters inhabit an underworld trying to break into the Earth.

Motoko Ishibashi’s paintings are a playful and provocative exploration of the female body and its representation in art historical and cultural contexts. By exaggerating the sexualized and fetishized parts of women’s bodies–breasts, legs, and buttocks–Ishibashi’s paintings critique and satirize the traditional objectification of the feminine form in art. In “Wicked City,” the incorporation of contemporary references to anime and internet fan-art further underscores the ways in which men’s desires and perspectives have driven the representation of women’s bodies in contemporary media and culture, as many of the most popular theoretical animated characters are drafted by men.

On View: January 7, 2023 – February 11, 2023

What: “Wicked City.” Motoko Ishibashi, 
Where: Sebastian Gladstone, 5523 Santa Monica Blvd, LA CA, 90038
Website: https://sebastiangladstone.com