"NEW YORK DOWN TOWN PEOPLE 2"
March 1 (Tue) through April 30 (Sat)



Japanese artist Chika Irikura draws her inspiration from her experience living in big cities such as New York, Tokyo and Paris. Currently, she has an exhibition called “Down Town People 2,” which is a sequel to “Down Town People,” her former exhibition at last year’s Japan Design Festa Gallery in Harajuku, Tokyo. Chika shoots mainly in her neighborhood, downtown Manhattan, and uses her neighbors as models in her work. She uses a lounge in her neighborhood since she simply believes “It works that way.” She adds, “The pictures just settle down there perfectly.” More important, the models she picks are all amateurs. The models in her pictures are natural objects which makes the observers feel as if they were there at that moment for real. While an observer may think that models are just passively being photographed, in Chika's work, they do more than that. It is not an exaggeration to say that her art was built by the relationships between the photographer and her models.

Denizen Lounge
73 Thompson Street
(bet. Broome St & Spring St)
212-966-7299
www.Denizenlounge.com