Good condition.
[1] Signed, titled and dated by CHAOS*LOUNGE ; signed and dated on the verso by Namonaki Sanemasa.
[2] Signed and dated by Fujishiro Uso on the verso.

Chaos*Lounge is an exhibition project founded in 2008 by the artist Fujishiro Uso (b.1990). From 2010 to 2020, it operated actively as an art collective led by Fujishiro, critic Kurose Yohei (b.1983), and artist Umezawa Kazuki (b.1985). It began as a chaotic group exhibition that gathered fifty unknown artists—ranging from students to creators in various fields—through the internet, particularly via early social networking sites. The Chaos Lounge exhibition and the surrounding online community developed their activities through a series of group exhibitions. In 2015, the collective established a legal entity, Chaosla, LLC, expanding its activities into curating exhibitions, managing art spaces, conducting educational programs, independently organizing art festivals, and streaming video content. After Kurose and Umezawa left the group, “Chaos*Lounge” belongs to Fujishiro.

The Pilgrimage of the Fifty-three Disciples on the Tōkaidō was presented in the exhibition TOKYO2021 “un/real engine — Engineering of Mourning” (2019, TODA BUILDING). This large-scale installation, created under Fujishiro’s direction under the name Chaos*Lounge, comprises multiple paintings and drawings arranged within a single spatial composition. At its core is a monumental painting composed of nine panels—the main body of the work—featuring contributions by fifteen artists. The work draws upon the Tōkaidō road, which historically ran past the exhibition venue, and takes inspiration from the story of Sudhana (Zenzai Dōji) in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, depicting his pilgrimage journey. Although not stated explicitly, the piece also serves as a memorial response to the Kyoto Animation arson attack of 18 July 2019. Kyoto Animation had long pioneered a form of expression that seamlessly bridged reality and fiction (anime). The arson brought real-world violence into the realm of fiction, simultaneously destroying both. In seeking to restore the fictional world shattered by that act and to re-examine the relationship between fiction and reality, the work intertwines the paths of Tōkaidō and Zenzai Dōji’s pilgrimage connecting Tokyo and Kyoto.

The entire background is painted by Fujishiro Uso and Namonaki Sanemasa (b.1994), on which each artist has painted various “Zenzai Dōji,” and the nine panels depict Zenzai Dōji praying and connecting the path of prayer as it travels back along the old Tōkaidō from Tokyo to Kyoto. The remaining one panel is displayed in a separate room and depicts the Kyoto Animation studio, which was destroyed by fire, as the end point of the journey, depicted by Fujishiro as a figure of light. Even after the exhibition closed, the participating artists continued to add to the work until its completion. This piece embodies Chaos Lounge’s distinctive mode of collective creation—an artwork jointly executed by countless artists. While grounded in character-based expression, it stands as a requiem in the form of painting.

Participating artists:
Uchida Yui, Umelabo (Umezawa Kazuki), Kawakami Yoshiro, kukamura, cottolink, Sugimoto Kensuke, Tsuzuki Takuma, TYM344, Namonaki Sanemasa, Hiromi, Fujishiro Uso, BeBe, Horie Takumi, Mike Anri, Miyashita Anri, ×□, mosh, and others.

— Based on text provided by the artist, Uso Fujishiro

"TOKYO 2021: un/real engine — Engineering of Mourning", September 14 - October 20, 2021, TODA BUILDING, Tokyo