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A Feast for the Eyes,
And the Taste Buds...
By Shani Frymer

It was an ordinary evening and I was dining out at one of my favorite neighborhood haunts: Paprika, a home style Italian restaurant that is both charming and warm, with exposed brick walls and artfully flaking red paint. Upon entering, I noticed that the decor had changed. What had been faded blue semi aquatic square prints, were now haunting and antique looking night scenes from Shanghai.

Japanese artist Canna Koyama, during her brief visit to New York City from her home of Nagoya, saw the restaurant for its exhibition possibilities. Her formal training in the arts – ranging from design and metal works, to digital manipulation of all sorts – has provided her with a wealth of skills to draw from. Exhibition “Shanghai,” a collection of tapestry like photographs, has been executed with great technological prowess. All eight color photographs are printed on canvas, some stretched into oval frames, transcending the pieces into an entirely new medium. They are not photographs, they are not paintings; their presentation enters them into the realm of mixed media.

In a way, these pieces could be defined as sculpture. The basic definition of a sculpture is that which exists in the third dimensional plane. These images are not flat in their suspension along the brick walls. Their ovular figures stand out as a relief and enter that third dimension. For this reason, Ms. Koyama’s works are mixed media.

In addition to their satisfying presentation, they are also well-composed images. Hauntingly empty streets glow with the small orbs of orange streetlights. A small theater containing the blurred figures of stage performers and a gilded arcane chandelier fill the frame with movement, ghostlike colors, and density.

It was oddly fortuitous that I found this without having searched. Ms. Koyama’s work may not be hanging on the white walls of a Chelsea gallery, but this would simply demean them. They were created with the sole intention of filling this particular space, as they are inextricably interconnected to it by symbolism. The color red itself is strongly symbolic- found on the Japanese flag, the heat the color signifies, and the relaxing sensation it emanates.

The spice itself, Paprika, is traditionally found in food of the Mediterranean and Asia, drawing us back to Ms. Koyama’s homeland.

Koyama’s work strives to tell us what several contemporary artists seem to be nudging us to realize: these busy cities in which we live, and their tremendous chaos, are replacing the small moments of harmony that the Japanese culture once represented.

Paprika is located at 110 St. Marks place. The show has been extended until the first week in November.