Experience Art That Transports You Between the Everyday and the Extraordinary!
UNWIND HOTEL&BAR OTARU works to provide a space for cultural and interpersonal exchange while conveying the charms of Hokkaido from a distinct perspective. As part of this effort, we established the “UNWIND GALLERY” opened in November last year to exhibit mainly works by Hokkaido artists, utilizing the space as a historical building renovated in a modern style. The exhibitions focus on contemporary art following the “classic contemporary” style of our hotel and has been featured in local media and fashion magazines.
This fourth project will be the first exhibition by whodunit, an art poster store operating online. The “Geometry Interlude,” a surrealist-style oil painting by an unidentified whodunit artist, will be exhibited as a poster. Combined with the art deco atmosphere of the UNWIND HOTEL&BAR OTARU, visitors will enjoy an immersive art experience that will make them feel as if they are walking the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary.
“Geometry Interlude” by whodunit
This exhibition will feature 15 works by whodunit that depict strange landscapes, odd assortments and the boundary between reality and unreality.
“The Last Noah-1” and “The Last Noah-2,” painted for this exhibition, are based on the Otaru coastline. The work is intended to be familiar to locals who know the area well as well as visitors to the area. The work is also characterized by an arrangement of caricatures of birds and beasts. Hotel guests will enjoy viewing Western-style painting that whodunit artists have cultivated in England in the context of the Western-style setting of the UNWIND HOTEL&BAR OTARU.
Message From the whodunit Artist
When you go to see a stage or a play, you are immersed in an extraordinary other world when the curtain opens. I used the word “interlude” because I think “interlude” is a time and space located on the borderline between the two, where you come back to reality from another world and another world begins again when you are in a theater.
Geometry often appears as an element in my posters, and is a motif that evokes a sense of “wonder,” “mystery,” “enigma,” “strange (but curious)” and “mystique. I connected these two motifs to create the works in this exhibition.
About whodunit
An online store offering posters to spice up any space or room, whodunit is a term from mystery novels that focuses on the mystery of who the culprit is. The store’s policy is to hide the artists’ real names and identities as part of its concept of being visually mysterious, mischievous and playful.
Web：https://whodunit237.stores.jp/about
Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/whodunit_shop/
whodunit Artist Profile
He studied art at Chelsea College of Arts (UAL) in London and is active as a contemporary artist, focusing on two-dimensional works. Influenced by surrealism, he creates works, mainly in oil, that are characterized by strange landscapes and odd sceneries.
Graduated from Tama Art University and its graduate school, majoring in painting.
Chelsea College of Arts, Post Graduate Diploma in Fine art
Chelsea College of Arts, MA in Fine art
After returning to Japan, he moved to Sapporo and works as a contemporary artist (under a different name).
＜Exhibition＞
Whodunit Original Poster Exhibition “Geometry Interlude”
・Location: UNWIND HOTEL&BAR OTARU First Floor UNWIND GALLERY
・Exhibition Period: August 1, 2023 – October 30, 2023
・Price: Free
whodunit Exhibition Cocktail Pairing
The hotel’s bar, BAR IGNIS, is also part of the gallery, where visitors can appreciate art while enjoying drinks. We recommend the “Otaru Wine Ball – Unwind Style” as a cocktail pairing with the whodunit exhibition. This cocktail combines Otaru’s standard cocktail made with wine, a traditional Western liquor and transparent milk with whodunit’s classic motifs along with a “mysterious” surrealist twist.
Bar Ignis is an unusually open space for a bar and has been well received by hotel guests and locals alike as a place where they can casually enjoy the hotel space and art. Please enjoy the magical hotel space and art along with the gorgeous and creative cocktails.
Otaru Wine Ball: 1400 yen (Tax Included)
If you’re interested in staying at UNWIND HOTEL&BAR OTARU, check out more information here.