Yamataka EYE: ONGALOO
Exhibition: 19 August – 18 October 2008

EYE is best known as a founding member and lead singer of the genre defining Japanese band Boredoms. Since the late eighties Boredoms have released seventeen critically acclaimed albums, moving from the extreme outbursts of sonic violence on early recordings to the tribal, shamanistic sound of recent releases.

In the early eighties EYE was a member of the radical performance noise group Hanatarash and has collaborated with Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Sonic Youth and Otomo Yoshihide as MC Carhouse & DJ Hellshit. He has recently started performing solo as DJ Pika Pika Pika.
His grounding in music and the transformative power and chaos it can yield are ever present in his visual art. Unlike the collaborative process of making music, EYE describes his method of making art as a “private activity, an almost half-automatic visualization of my impulses”. Working with a range of media including found objects, drawing and photography he creates collages that combine artificial and natural elements, pop cultural trash and psychedelic shamanism.

This exhibition will show elements from EYE’s major solo show and publication ONGALOO. ONGALOO is a celebration of the greatness of life itself, and was inspired by the extreme culture and climate encountered on a trip to Yakutsk in Siberia. The title ONGALOO comes from the phonetic expression of the Japanese phrase ‘On ga aru’, which carries the double meaning of ‘There is sound’ and ‘I am indebted’.

The work is a combination of t-shirts, objects and drawings that EYE has made with materials acquired at junk shops along national highways in the suburbs. The collages are also influenced by things he experienced as a child: small illustrated picture books, the superhero Kamen Rider TV shows, techno-pop, punk and new wave music, oracles, mantras and the energy of the sun. His work is a strong mix of all these elements, creating a powerful force that propels us into his enigmatic universe.

His work has been exhibited in Japan and New York including: Transplant Gallery, P.S.1 and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, ARTZONE, Kyoto and magical, ARTROOM, Tokyo. He has produced several catalogues including NANOO (1996) and ONGALOO (2006), and designed many record covers, including Beck’s Midnight Vultures. Yamataka EYE is represented by magical, ARTROOM, Tokyo.

alt.gallery is a gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne presenting international work by artists
working at the intersection of visual art, music and sound. It is curated by Rebecca
Shatwell and based within alt.vinyl record shop. The gallery website is

The Wire magazine is media sponsor for the gallery see: www.thewire.co.uk

alt.vinyl is a music business based in central Newcastle upon Tyne, comprising of record store, label, online music retail and gig promotion activities. For more information see www.altvinyl.com or email info@altvinyl.com

Opening hours: Monday – Saturday 11am – 6pm
Admission Free

Special Events:

magical, ARTROOM Talk
Monday 18 August, 5.30pm
Vane, Kings House, Forth Banks, Newcastle NE1 3PA
Haruka ITO will talk about the work of Yamataka EYE and the gallery’s international work. magical, ARTROOM supports upcoming artists and has developed publishing projects, a music label and the Art Award Tokyo. They are participating in Frieze Art Fair 2008.