Michiko Itatani

"Cosmic Wanderlust" painting from CTRL-Home/Echo CRH-11 2012 78" x 96" oil on canvas

"Cosmic Wanderlust" painting from Cosmic Theater CWC-9 2011 78" x 96" oil on canvas

"Cosmic Wanderlust" painting from HyperBaroque CWH-1, 2012 60"x72" oil on canvas

"Cosmic Wanderlust" painting from Cosmic Theater CWC-178" x 96", 2010, oil on canvas

"Cosmic Wanderlust" painting from Cosmic Theater CWC-52010, 96"x78", oil on canvas

Trying to review these paintings by looking at tiny online images (most of these originals are eight feet wide by six and a half feet tall!) is probably a bit like trying to describe the night sky having only ever seen a photo of it. Of course it's entirely possible that seeing the actual work would be a letdown. Possible, but given the general quality of art shown at Linda Warren Projects in Chicago, where Michiko Itatani's most recent work is now on display, that seems highly unlikely. While her subject matter and imagery varies, there is something especially appealing to me in these grand imagined interiors, "cosmic theaters" indeed. They're like a cross between the ancient library of Alexandrai, the wonders of Byzantium and something out of Star Trek, all suffused with an ethereal unreality that borders on the religious. But if religion is implied it is a secular one, a religion of knowledge and art. These spaces seem like high vast churches dedicated to narrative, knowledge and dreams. There is no god in them other than the artist herself, for these scintillating images exist as a kind of subcreation (a term coined by JRR Tolkien) in which the artist does not ask us to suspend out disbelief, but instead, through detail and consistent vision, compels our acceptance of her reality for the duration of our interaction with it. But really, I'm just guessing. I need to see these for myself. If only I could. If you happen to be in Chicago this September please go check them out at Linda Warren Projects
You can see much more of her work online at her website: www.michikoitatani.com