MORI Junichi "mirror in the backyard"（TOKYO）

Mizuma Art Gallery is pleased to present “mirror in the backyard”, an exhibition by MORI Junichi commencing Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Last year, Mori participated in the exhibition “From Goya to Picasso, and then to Nagasaki: War in the Eyes of Artists” at his hometown’s Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, showing a combination of old and new works focused on the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. These works, illuminating the shadows of history, left a lasting impression on many viewers. Marking his first solo exhibition in roughly seven years, this show will center on the artist’s latest series, astral shadow.

The series was sparked by Alberto Giacometti’s 1930s polyhedral sculpture Cube (Le cube) and his drawing from the same era, Moon-Happening (Lunare). Whilst exploring the meaning of Giacometti’s polyhedra, Mori attempted to create several polyhedral forms himself, but did not find any definitive clues. It was during this very process that astral shadow–first layer, cube unexpectedly appeared. Within the “first layer”, Mori describes discovering a “star” that corresponds to the mask-like presence floating in darkness depicted in Giacometti’s Lunare.

In recent years, Mori has been creating works based on subjects of ambiguous reality—objects that vanish from sight or exist solely in imagination. Stars shining in the distant night sky are also presences whose true essence can only be imagined.

Using onyx and marble scraps, Mori carefully shapes each piece of astral shadow whilst discerning the inherent patterns of the stone, revealing their unique character and expressions in the process. Although the series was originally inspired by stories about stars, Mori now places importance on the process itself, engaging directly with the stone. Originally aiming for 100 pieces, the series has already surpassed 50. For Mori, it remains a work in progress, with more creations planned for the future.

The exhibition title, “mirror in the backyard (uraniwa no kagami)”, originated serendipitously from mishearing the name of a star chart card made 200 years ago, Urania’s Mirror (urania no kagami). Its mysterious, mirror-like quality, quietly reflecting the world, strangely resonates with Urania’s Mirror, which depicts constellations. We warmly invite you to experience Mori’s astral shadow works scattered, like constellations, throughout the exhibition space.