CROSS OVER was established in August 2017 by PEDDY POT (Yashiro Hiroyuki), who at the time was active in creating and exhibiting graphic art at Southeast Asian and East Asian international art exhibitions and art fairs. He established the new art group separate from the exhibitions he had been participating in with the goal of making exhibiting art in foreign countries, which is often seen as difficult, more accessible to all kinds of artists.

As an international art exhibition group mainly active in Asian countries, CROSS OVER gathers different participants including painters, graphic designers, dancers, and photographers for every exhibition, and to date have had over 500 participating artists. 

The name CROSS OVER comes from our desire for each individual to become aware of new perspectives and values through interactions with artworks of various styles as well as different guests at our international exhibitions, and to dig deeper into these new findings.

The fact that it is geographically easy to travel between these countries and Japan contributes to why we are mainly active in Asia, but the biggest reason is that PEDDY POT had experiences that led him to strongly feel that he wanted to be more active in this region. He was overwhelmed by a speed of development that currently can’t be experienced in Japan, and also experienced numerous new environments he never knew about through interacting with the local art spaces, artists, and audiences of each of the many Asian countries he visited.

We would like artists to realize that they can be active in other countries and regions instead of thinking that their current surroundings are everything, and grow beyond their current environment through our exhibitions. We would like to be a little push to expand the scope of their future activities.

In addition, there are an increasing number of people in Asian countries that are starting to hold interest in Japanese art through their knowledge of Japanese culture. By having locals build up their interest and helping them realize that there are still many more exciting artists and creators in Japan, we believe they can learn about us as well as a part of Japan through having them visit our exhibitions. 

We have held our own exhibitions in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Myanmar, but we have also been expanding our activities by participating and exhibiting as CROSS OVER in an international art fair in Taiwan as well as holding exhibitions in Europe in countries like France.

We also have members that have gained opportunities to exhibit in other international exhibitions through their exhibitions with CROSS OVER. Our scope of activities have been increasing in ways we initially never even thought about.

CROSS OVER does not want to be satisfied with just holding exhibitions overseas or blindly glorify foreign environments. Ultimately we aim to be a helping hand for artists to be able to reflect on their current environment and status through exhibiting their art, and deepen their thinking on their overall lifestyle and future goals even beyond just their creative work. 

We would like to give something back, no matter how small, to our artists and visitors through our exhibitions and future activities.

Please look forward to our future activities.

CROSS OVERは東南アジア、東アジアの国際展示会やアートフェアでグラフィックアートの制作と展示活動をしていたPEDDY POT(屋代弘之)が、今まで参加してきた展示とは別に、難しく思われがちな海外での展示をもっと様々な作家の人達に身近に感じてもらうために2017年8月に設立した展示団体です。

毎回違った画家やグラフィックデザイナー、ダンサー、フォトグラファーなど様々なジャンルの参加者を招集し、主にアジア諸国や様々な国や地域で行う展示集団として現在500人以上のアーティストが参加しました。

CROSS OVERとは、海外の展示を通して様々な作風の作品と来客との交流を通して、そこから各々が今まで気づかなかった別の視点や価値観に気付き、それをより掘り下げていきたい意味があります。

アジアがメインなのはそもそも地理的に往来がしやすいという点もありますが、一番は現在の日本では体感できないような発展の速度に圧倒されたのと同時に、各国々の現地のアートスペースや作家、オーディエンスとの交流を通して、自分の知らなかった環境が沢山あり、そこでもっと行動したいと強く感じた体験があったからです。

展示を通して、今の自分の身の回りの環境だけが全てだと萎縮するのではなく、もっと他の国や地域でも活動できるんだ、今いるところが全てじゃないことを出展者の方々に知ってもらい、少しでも今後の活動の幅が広がる後押しになればと考えています。

またアジアの国々では日本の文化を知ったりカルチャーを通してアートに興味を持つ人が増えてきて、展示に見に来てくれた現地の方々に日本にはまだまだ面白い作家やクリエイターがいるんだとより興味を持ってもらうことで、その中で小さなところから私達、そして日本の一端を知ってもらうことができるとも考えています。

現在台湾、シンガポール、香港、タイ、マレーシア、カンボジア、ミャンマーで展示を行ってきましたが、台湾の国際アートフェア内でCROSS OVERとして展示ができたり、フランスなどヨーロッパでの展示も行うなど、活動範囲もどんどん拡大してきています。

今までの出展がきっかけで他の国際展示会に参加する機会を得たメンバーもいます。最初は考えもしていなかった切り口から活動範囲が広がってきています。

CROSS OVERはただ海外で展示をやったということだけに満足したり、盲目的に海外の環境を持ち上げたりするわけではなく、最終的には各々の出展者が国内外の活動を問わず、自分の置かれた環境や立場などを展示を通して相対的に捉え、創作活動だけに収まらずそれぞれの生活全般のことや今後の指針などの考えを深めたり、問い直す手助けになることを目指しています。

展示や今後の行動を通して、出展者や観客の周りの方々に少しでも何かを還元できればよいと考えています。

今後の活動に是非ご期待ください。