タイトル: Yu Uchida "cool it (division) smile away yel-vio" — When a Smile Becomes a Counterargument | Gallery Seek

At first glance, it looks like a cheerful character artwork. But linger with it, and the question starts to surface: is the polar bear smiling, or melting?
Yu Uchida's work *cool it (division) smile away yel-vio* (2024, Mixed media, H750 × W700 × D68 mm) layers yellow and violet complementary color fields through the countless perforations of punching metal, generating a visual vibration that shifts with every change of viewing angle.
The *cool it* series — Uchida's signature — casts the polar bear, an icon of climate crisis, as a melting ice-candy figure: a critique of mass consumption and environmental destruction wrapped in the seductive language of "kawaii" pop culture. *Smile away* adds another layer, suggesting the very human impulse to keep smiling and carry on — even as the ice melts.
Uchida graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a focus on casting metalwork and glass sculpture, then deepened her conceptual practice during a residency at the University for the Creative Arts in the UK. Since then, she has participated in art fairs and exhibitions across Japan, the United States, Europe, and Asia — collaborating with brands including Tezuka Productions, Tsuburaya Productions, and Tirol Chocolate, always finding ways to deliver sharp social commentary through disarmingly cute forms.
In this work, the bright surface — the more vivid it is — the more it amplifies the darkness it conceals. That structural tension is the message.
■ Yu Uchida Solo Exhibition "POP-UP COUNTER"
6 June – 13 June 2026 | Gallery Seek, Caretta Shiodome B1F, Tokyo (1-8-2 Higashishinbashi, Minato-ku)
Artist in attendance: 12 & 13 June (Fri & Sat)
▶ Artwork details & inquiry: https://art-scenes.net/ja/artworks/55741
▶ Exhibition "POP-UP COUNTER": https://art-scenes.net/ja/shows/1630
▶ Gallery Seek: https://galleryseek.jp/