“cross cross x x Vol. 3”: Exploring the Formation and Boundaries of Character Art in Contemporary Art
2026-01-07｜Written by GALERIE OVO
From October 17 to November 1, 2025, GALERIE OVO presented cross cross x x Vol. 3, a continuation of the group exhibition series first launched in 2023. This edition featured six artists: Amane Ishii, chikuwamiel, Hiromi, Kizuki, Manami Higashi, and Shu Yonezawa.
Upon entering the exhibition space, viewers quickly became aware that each group of works possessed a strong and distinct individuality, yet without creating a sense of conflict. Each character in the works stood in its own position, maintaining an independent rhythm and tone, while naturally coexisting with the surrounding works in the same space. They did not need to deliberately echo one another; through coexistence alone, they formed a kind of balance.
In Amane Ishii’s work, the interpretation of the “picture within a picture” allows multiple images and spaces to intersect, generating an interaction and exchange between the viewer and the image through the act of looking.
Works by artist Amane Ishii. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
The characters depicted by chikuwamiel are not limited by gender, species, or age, but are closer to personifications of the soul. Color and light construct a soft and warm field within the image, as if hoping to light a lamp within the viewer’s heart.
Works by artist chikuwamiel. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
Hiromi’s work depicts character-like faces and plants that seem to emerge within real landscapes. The backgrounds are often drawn from sites of natural disasters in the artist’s hometown of Okayama. At first glance, the characters may appear human, yet the “ideal form” they suggest is not limited to human appearance; it also includes a longing for peaceful life, as well as the visualization of natural landscapes such as mountains and seas.
Works by artist Hiromi. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
Kizuki uses nihonga to depict ambiguous states between existence and non-existence, focusing on the overlap of memory, emotion, and identity within consciousness.
Works by artist Kizuki. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
Manami Higashi considers how characters known as “Nijigen” gradually become objects of idol-like admiration and affection once transformed into three-dimensional models. In her work, she gives these models a rotating motion, condensing their continuous movement into a single Nijigen painting, thereby visualizing the “timeline” and the “fourth dimension.”
Works by artist Manami Higashi. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
Shu Yonezawa extracts the presence of “anima” in digital animation — the afterimage that exists between frames — and treats it as a trace of the character’s body and consciousness that has yet to be seen.
Works by artist Shu Yonezawa. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
Reflecting on the initial starting point of cross cross x x, curator Hwang Lining noted that since the first edition, cross cross x x Vol. 1, was held in 2023, the exhibition has been closely connected to shifts in the contemporary art collecting market during the pandemic. With the emergence of new collectors, painting styles centered on portraits, large faces, cute faces, and big eyes rapidly gained attention. Within that environment, artists followed different developmental paths. Some continued creative trajectories built over many years and happened to encounter the trend; some responded to the times by adjusting their styles and developing new expressions; others consistently chose to walk their own paths. Whichever the case, positive stimulation itself can be a form of progress for artists, and works accumulated over time often allow collectors to feel their weight and depth.
Curator Hwang Lining. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
However, while considering this phenomenon, the presence of another group of artists gradually came into view. In Japan, works referred to as “character art” also depict girls, faces, and figures, yet they always carry a difference that is difficult to ignore. If one were to lay out the works of different artists one by one and ask which belong to character art and which do not, the boundary would often be difficult to articulate clearly. Yet in the act of viewing, one can still somehow sense the distinction.
Having grown up in Japan during childhood, curator Hwang Lining recalled how her classmates would draw works in this kind of style during lunch breaks. She further realized that many creators of character art had already begun continuously drawing such characters during their school years, or even as early as elementary school. This long-term commitment to the same creative path, and the refusal to easily change direction in response to the market, led the curator to ask: what kind of force has supported these practices all the way to the present?
It was under this question that the curator organized the first edition of cross cross x x, a group exhibition of Japanese artists, in 2023. In the same year, she also curated another group exhibition centered on Japanese artists, plus plus + +. Through these two exhibitions, curator Hwang Lining sought to explore the subtle boundary between viewing and thinking about artistic creation. plus plus + + presented forms of creation more readily understood within the context and market of contemporary art, while cross cross x x focused on a lineage of character art that is still in the process of formation and has not yet been clearly named.
For this reason, what cross cross x x Vol. 3 continues is not a classification of character art, but a path of ongoing questioning and observation. Through repeated curatorial practice, creative forms that have not yet been fully recognized can be seen, understood, and gradually find their own position within the field of contemporary art.
Installation view of cross cross x x Vol. 3. Image courtesy of GALERIE OVO.
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cross cross x x Vol. 3 Curator｜Hwang Lining Organized by｜GALERIE OVO
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