glow in the dark vending machine on Japanese street

Keita Morimoto

Cityscape

€800

Edition of 35

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Keita Morimoto imagines the abundance of vending machines in Tokyo as mysterious windows into another world.

In Cityscape, Morimoto bathes an unassuming street in gentle purple light, unveiling a cinematic scene in the quiet moments before nightfall. Attracting consumers with light is a code of contemporary life in Japan – the vending machine window glows to capture the viewer’s attention. Morimoto’s skillful use of light and dark is enhanced with a layer of glowing ink. Applied to the areas of artificial light sources, it radiates onto the surrounding street when the artwork is seen in darkness.

“They have always struck me as these strange portals, almost like black holes, that I am drawn to in my day to day. Whatever you want, pretty much anything, you can get one in the machines.”

Keita Morimoto

4 collaborations

Keita Morimoto transforms urban streets into rich, cinematic backdrops. His paintings, in oil and acrylic on canvas, show his mastery of artificial light. Borrowing techniques from Baroque painters, Morimoto’s subjects pose under dramatic spotlights – a twist on Rembrandt's contrasting use of light and shadow. Yet, the soft focus on the central figures give the paintings the atmospheric haze of a video game. Combined with hyperrealist figuration, the result is uncanny – like snapshots from a parallel universe almost identical to our own.

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