Maki Fine Arts is pleased to present "CHEAP TRICKS," a solo show by Eiki Okuda from Saturday, July 21 through Saturday, August 11, 2012. Recipient of the Encouragement Award for The Gunma Biennale for Young Artists 2008, Eiki Okuda has been creating playful works including videos and paintings that stimulate the viewer's perception. In this show, the artist will present an installation composed around his new videos that will incorporate the entire exhibition space.

Just like how all magic tricks can be explained, once certain conditions and mechanics are in place, technically, it is possible to leap forward just a little bit from the physical and scientific proof.

By selecting an optional motif and then applying conditions or tricks to the inevitability that the motif possesses, wouldn't it be possible to warp the state of affairs just a little bit?

In this exhibition, I will take items like JENGA and chains, and use the original role and inevitability of each motif against itself to produce works of JENGA blocks that seemingly ignore gravity without collapsing and chains that appear to stand up on its own without any sagging.

Eiki Okuda

[Artist Bio]
Born 1985 in Tokyo, Japan, Eiki Okuda completed his BFA degree in oil painting from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2011. He has been exhibiting playful works including animations brimming with childlike imagination and paintings of mosaicked celebrities and of the TV game "TETRIS." Okuda is the recipient of the Encouragement Award for The Gunma Biennale for Young Artists 2008. Past exhibitions include group shows in 2012 such as "What Happened to Me Yesterday" at the Ai Kowada Gallery and "Hiroshi Tachibana ・Eiki Okuda・Taiyo Kimura" at Maki Fine Arts. Okuda currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.