Jiro Osuga
Departures
Flowers Gallery
82 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DP
19 May – 1 July 2023
Last Thursday I was delighted to attend the opening of the latest show by Jiro Osuga, Departures at the Flowers Gallery in Hoxton, London.
I’ve known Jiro for many years and have long admired his work in previous shows at Flowers, including in 2009 when I wrote here about his transformation of their Mayfair gallery into Café Jiro, (more pictures on My London Diary) later shown in the real Queen’s Terrace Café run for a few years by london and art historian Mirelle Galinou.
The work from ‘Café Jiro’ also featured in ‘Pub Jiro‘, his takeover aided by Mireille of the upper floor of the Horse & Groom in Streatham, part of the 2017 Streatham Festival and celebrating the publication of her The Streatham Sketchbook.
Jiro has also been a great help in the hanging of several of exhibitions I’ve worked on over the years, I think the first of which was Cities of Walls, Cities of People in 2001, which I curated for now long missed London Arts Café.
I don’t often review art shows, though I used to write much more about photography exhibitions, and I won’t say a great deal about this one, which I think is Jiro Osuga’s most ambitious and impressive to date, transforming the large space of the Kingsland Road gallery into an airport departure lounge, covering the walls with giant paintings which, according to the gallery cover more than 160 square metres.
The gallery web site shows the works but to really appreciate them you have to go there and stand in the space, where they are far more vibrant and enveloping. Or perhaps you really need to sit and contemplate them, enjoying the wealth of objects and characters from painting, film and real life they include. As the gallery states, the paintings creat “an unfolding state for individual and often unexpected narratives to occur“. There is an immense wit and imagination in this and other work by Jiro.
Actual airport departure lounges are some kind of hell of consumerism, to be avoided at all costs (and part of an industry that is costing the earth.) But don’t miss spending some time with this work, on show until 1st July 2023.
There are more pictures from the opening in my album Jiro Osuga – Departures Opening. I haven’t named those shown in the pictures, though some may tag themselves, but you may recognise two fine photographers as well as others among them.
