We invite you to join us at Speedy Gallery for Bergamot Station’s 30th Anniversary Celebration! Performances, art exhibitions, food, drinks, and a full day of arts and culture will be featured throughout September 7th, 2024. Concept: Soul and Digital, Individual and Global Systems, Life and Death, Nature and Culture, Holy and Secular. The concept revolves around the animism energy that has existed within humanity, Earth, and the universe for tens of thousands of years, juxtaposed with the minimal digital energy of "0" and "1," which humanity has only recently discovered. We live in a time when the analog nature of our bodies and souls contrasts sharply with an increasingly digital world, creating a dangerous imbalance between the individual and global systems—a time on the edge of madness. Moreover, the dynamism of Japanese aesthetics is rooted in nature. The white in Japanese culture symbolizes life, death, sacredness, and hope. This white energy is expressed through an Eastern spirituality in my work. Shinichi Hara’s Bio: Shinichi Hara began his career as a contemporary artist in 1985 when he held his first exhibition in Los Angeles, an artist whose work captured the attention of David Hockney. Following this, while continuing to create paintings, Hara also worked as an art director for 35 years, producing key visuals for music graphics that reached millions of copies across Japan and Asia. In 2009, he dedicated his life to his long-held dream of being an artist, expanding his artistic activities globally, with exhibitions in New York, Italy, Hong Kong, and beyond. Hara's work is influenced by world art movements like Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimal Art, and Conceptual Art, as well as by Ukiyo-e and the Rinpa school in Japanese art history. Ukiyo-e is known for its woodblock prints that capture the fleeting beauty of the "floating world," while the Rinpa school is celebrated for its decorative, nature-inspired compositions. These influences helped Hara establish his unique style. Hara's concept revolves around the animism energy within humanity, Earth, and the universe, juxtaposed with the minimal digital energy of "0 and 1" recently discovered by humankind. He explores the precarious balance between the analog (body and soul) and the digital (modern societal systems) in this mad world, expressing the dynamism of Japanese aesthetics through the energy of white. In his work, Hara uses the color white to convey all its meanings in Japanese culture—life, death, sacredness, and hope—depicting contrasts such as "soul and digital, individual and global systems, life and death, sacred and profane, nature and culture" through an Eastern spiritual lens.