That Reminds Me of…

Shogo Okada’s work—with simple lines and colours, and no up or down, or left or right—criticizes people’s lack of consciousness. In the current cultural context of excess accumulation of information, in which people don’t think about what they are seeing, and just take in information passively, this exhibition aims to activate viewers, to stimulate attitudes, values and evaluation criteria.

Shogo Okada, born in Japan, and eagerly transitioning to life in Canada, arrived in Toronto four years ago with his unique prints exploring the world of graphic comics and animated television series. Drawing from an array of sources, including Peanuts, Curious George, Babar and Phineas and Ferb among others, Okada hand draws, cuts, rearranges and prints graphic elements lifted from these series. While both a formal and technical exploration of his material process and content, the resulting work has a strong minimalist impact, utilizing fields of colour with familiar elements that shift locations through a body of work. Okada’s work is a fascinating glimpse into the considerations of an artist born and raised in the hyper-pop world of Japan. He manages to establish a connection between the state of contemporary comics and animation with a nod to the histories and ethos of both minimalism and pop art.