Enrico Isamu Ōyama represents a contemporary generation with a distinctly global perspective. Child of an Italian father and a Japanese mother, Ōyama was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, but also lived for extended periods in North Italy. In Tokyo, he immersed himself in an underground art scene infused with the street culture of the city and its global influences. In 2011, Ōyama arrived in New York for a residency sponsored by the Asian Cultural Council and has since established his studio in Brooklyn, New York.
“Ubiquitous” surveys how Ōyama channeled his interests in the street cultures of Tokyo and American cities, Western abstract art, and Japanese calligraphy to create Quick Turn Structure (QTS), his signature expression. QTS thrives in varied creative platforms, including painting, digital media, sound, and fashion. In addition to works on display in the Beach Museum of Art’s Hyle Gallery, the exhibition extends beyond museum walls to a mural in the retail district near campus (Aggieville), a sound installation in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, in Kansas State University’s Willard Hall, and a live painting performance on October 7th in the museum parking lot. Through the QTS, Ōyama gives visual form to the mixed-race, multicultural, transnational experiences of people in today’s world of fluid borders and interconnectivity.
This exhibition will be on display until December 23. Beach Museum of Art is open until Tuesday through Saturday.