About Kenichi Ogawa

Kenichi Ogawa is a sculptor, painter and installation artist. He attended the University of the Arts in his hometown of Aichi.

He often makes paintings with silicone paint, because he is interested in the idea of ​​encorporating the senses to symbolise emotions such as intimacy and affection. For him, silicone as a material gives a similar feeling to human skin. Working with it ensures that he can get as close to his own sense of touch as possible. First he paints the canvas with oil paint, then he applies the silicone and finally he draws his image by wiping away the top layer with a brush.

In 1996 he started the Painting (underpants) project. He started by stretching clothing fabrics with a print over a frame. He then painted those fabrics with white acrylic paint, outlining the contour of underpants. The underpants were not painted, but the brushstrokes followed the sensual contours of a worn brief. An indirect process.

The same process is reflected in Underpants, an enormous pair of underpants that was stretched in front of the entrance of the Hilton hotel during ART ZUID 2013. With this Ogawa seemed to be breaking a number of social codes. To him, the underpants represent something that should be hidden. After all, anyone who walks around naked outside will be arrested. The flapping slip has the ability to fuel new conversations and challenges the audience to express their opinion.

Since 1992 he has held solo exhibitions in Japan and the United Kingdom, and since 1999 in groups, also in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar has work by Ogawa in its permanent collection.