For immediate release:The Imposters
November 24 - December 22, 2018
Opening Party: November 24, 6PM-9PM

eitoeiko is pleased to announce a solo exhibition “The Imposters” by Ichiro Irie. Ichiro Irie created the first iteration of the “Imposter”
series in 2009 using a different title called the “Sarah/Lucas” where he appropriated the sculptural and photographic works by thewell-known YBA artist, Sarah Lucas.

In this initial series and in the subsequent “Imposter” series he uses the common stationary item,“poster putty” (otherwise referred to as earthquake putty or mounting putty) to create 2-dimensional images with references fromcontemporary art, photography, film and music that influenced Irie and his peers during his teens and twenties.
Irie considers this period of early adulthood to be a crucial moment in the formation of a person’s identity throughout an individual’s life.
If you ask someone, “What’s your all-time favorite movie (band, artist etc.),” more often than not, they will name something that wasexperienced during this period. Born in Tokyo, but raised in Los Angeles, most of Irie’s major influences have been from the cannon ofAmerican and European cultural history. For example, within the subset of works with movie references, Irie selects objects and symbols
that appear in films by 5 of his favorite directors, David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Spike Lee, Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick. The
images presented in these “posters”, or more accurately “imposters”, would probably be recognizable only to a serious fan of eachauteur’s works. However, instead of merely serving the function of nostalgic celebration, Irie considers the “Imposter” series as anopportunity for self-critique, with the decidedly masculine and west-centric narratives in all the movies referenced. The process ofcreating these works, accomplished by molding this unruly and gummy material by hand onto a flat surface, hopefully enhances thesensation of ambivalence for the viewer as it does for the artist.
For this current exhibition, “The Imposters”, Irie presents a large collection of works he has made from the “Imposter” series,
appropriating images from film, music and photography. Irie considers this project a culmination of his efforts using the poster-puttymaterial.

Ichiro Irie
Born in Tokyo and raised in Los Angeles, Ichiro Irie is a visual artist, curator, director of the artist-run-space JAUS in Los Angeles, andfounding member of the curatorial collective QiPO. Irie received his B.A. from University of California, Santa Barbara and his M.F.A. fromClaremont Graduate University. After completing his M.F.A., Irie went to Mexico City on a Fulbright fellowship, and between the years
2002 and 2007 he founded and edited the contemporary art publication RiM magazine. As an artist, Irie has exhibited his work in galleries
and museums internationally. Solo shows include DENK gallery in Los Angeles, Yautepec Gallery in Mexico City, and eitoeiko in Tokyo.
Recent group exhibitions include the traveling exhibition "To Travel with Glasses" at Aomori Museum of Art, Shizuoka PrefecturalMuseum of Art and Iwami Art Museum; the Pacific Standard Time exhibition "Transpacific Borderlands: The Art of the Japanese Diaspora
in Lima, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and São Paulo" at Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles; "Revision Glocal Review" at
CECUT, Tijuana; Chockablockat UAM, Long Beach; "The Crystal Jungle" at Museo del Chopo, Mexico City; and SNAFU at Kunstverein
Neckar-Odenwald in Germany. His work has been published in LA Weekly, Visual Art Source, White Hot magazine, Hyperallergic, Art andCake, Art Zealous and Arte Contexto among others. Irie currently teaches at Oxnard College and Ryman Arts, and is an artist inresidence at 18th Street Arts Center.

Images of artwork

Imposter: Lolita (left)
Imposter: Gaff (right)
Poster putty on panel, with frame, 24 x 24 inches(each), 2018

Imposter: The People by Kishin
Imposter: Anthrax, Crass, King Crimson and Marylin Manson
Poster putty on panel with frame, 20 x 16 inches(Kishin), 12 x 12 inches(others), 2018

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