GR gallery is pleased to present the second solo exhibition by Tokyo-based artist Ai☆Madonna, titled “I Am Not Saying: -Give Me Money Because You Feel Sorry For Me.-” In conjunction with the exhibition, the artist will perform a live painting session at an outdoor public location, to be announced soon. The show will feature 18 new paintings, including a special series of five articulated shaped canvases, created over the past year specifically for this event. Through her signature anime-style depictions of young girls, Ai☆Madonna reflects on human relationships, drawing from her personal experiences as an artist.
The opening reception will take place on Thursday, October 10th, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, with the exhibition running from October 11th through November 9th. Press members are invited to contact GR gallery to schedule private viewings or interviews with the artist prior to the official opening. Visitors who wish to attend the reception can RSVP by contacting the gallery. Ai☆Madonna will be present at the reception.
GR gallery is located at 255 Bowery (between Houston & Stanton), New York, NY 10002 | info@gr-gallery.com | tel: +1 212 473 2900 | Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
With a calm, smiling face and curious yet empty eyes, the recurring figure of the young girl in Ai☆Madonna’s work illustrates her complex and stressful teenage experiences. At the same time, this vividly colored and energetically brush-stroked figure, embodies the artist’s perspective as an adult. The exhibition title is inspired by a famous line from the Japanese drama ‘Homeless Child’ (家なき子 ). With this cultural reference, Ai☆Madonna criticizes and ironizes on the traumatizing development of her recent artistic journey that crossed personal boundaries and ethical values. The emotional absence of freedom in her childhood is directly connected to the irrational situations she faced within the art community. In this exhibition Ai☆Madonna’s goddess-like young girl fantasy unveils the absurdity of situations that seem to occur endlessly in our lives.
Ai☆Madonna (B.1984, Tokyo), lives and works in Tokyo, studied performing arts and classical music at the Tokyo Metropolitan Senior High School of Fine Arts (2003) and attended Bigakko in Tokyo by working with Makoto AIDA (2004). Ai☆Madonna had her first exhibition at the Mizuma Art Gallery under her real name ‘Ai Kato’ and began live-drawing performance on the street from 2007, mainly in Akihabara distinct in Tokyo with the artist name of AI☆MADONNA. After she established her own company “AI☆MADONNA Production,” she has been focusing on painting, illustration, 3D artworks and live-drawing performance by representing young girls’ images. She has extensively exhibited all over the world, Including a solo exhibition at Roppongi Hills art Museum, she has 11 times solo exhibition and multiple group exhibitions in worldwide places including New York, Warszawa, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Singapore, Bangkok, Paris, Shanghai as well as Tokyo. She had her first solo exhibition in NYC in 2023 with GR gallery and participated to 3 art fairs.
