Born 1970. B.F.A., Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 1993.

In his Perfect World Series, Noriaki Hayashi investigates the notion of utopia, exposing the absurd within the ideal. *Twinkle*Twinkle* features thirty small paintings, each depicting a section of the universe with the stars rearranged in a regular, ordered fashion. Hung in rows forming a grid, the paintings themselves seemingly repeat ad infinitum an idealized world in which the unknowable has become predictable. In the Building series, skyscrapers are represented as minimal geometric grids of miniscule black-outlined white rectangles silhouetted against midnight blue skies. The red lights at either corner—warning beacons for airplanes—invoke an eerily contemporary reminder of an increasingly technological society. Similarly, his laser prints on photographic paper of silhouetted sheep appear chillingly generic, devoid of any emotion.