Hira Hira ｜ Tenki Hiramatsu ｜6.11.25 — 20.12.25

“ A big man stands there — the owner — trying to place himself among the tables and chairs. Above the bar, the long glass cradles a sickly image: the owner, greenish, his features smudged, jaundiced and fat in his aquarium.

On the other side, behind the window, the owner again slowly melting in the first light of the street. This must be the silhouette that has just set the room in order; all that remains is for it to disappear. In the mirror flickers the reflection of this ghost, already almost entirely decomposed; and beyond, growing ever more hesitant, the endless throng of shadows: the Owner, the owner , the owner… The Owner, a mournful nebula, drowned in his halo.”

« Les Gommes » — Alain Robbe-Grillet

” The word “Hira Hira” is a Japanese onomatopoeia. For instance, leaves falling from a tree, copy paper drifting off a table, or a flag swaying in the wind. It describes the movement of things falling or dancing through the air.

This phrase gives me an optimistic impression while also evoking a passive state. This sensation seems shared by the figures within the paintings. For they have no roots. Might they not exist without any definite purpose? What are people’s aims and roles?

This theme bounces straight back to me. My present life rests upon a precarious balance and instability. I deeply relate to the passage excerpted from the book because I felt it shared this sensation.” — Tenki Hiramatsu about Hira Hira

Hiramatsu’s painting practice exists at the intersection of abstraction and figuration, featuring enigmatic, often solitary figures within abstract landscapes. His chromatic palette ranges from soft ochres to deep earthy browns. Beneath the apparent simplicity of his compositions, his works, imbued with gentle melancholy, invite prolonged contemplation.

Tenki Hiramatsu (b. 1986, Wakayama, JP, lives and works in Berlin, DE) studied at Nihon University in Tokyo and later at Staatliche Kunstakademie Karlsruhe under Daniel Roth and Marcel van Eeden.