Noon Day Night

William Monk's paintings exploring light, time, and atmospheric conditions across different hours.

Why go

Monk's recurring Sentinel figure—a guide at thresholds between worlds—resonates with Buddhist concepts of higan and spiritual crossing; the exhibition draws on sources from classic cinema and psychedelic rock, layering thin washes of color to evoke Celtic "thin places" where corporeal and spiritual boundaries blur.

What to expect

New and recent paintings from Monk's ongoing series, featuring enigmatic forms including colorful pillars, ethereal smoke rings, shadowy rock formations, and the uncanny Sentinel figure, painted in hazy greys, pinks, and purples that give way to vivid reds, oranges, and blues.

Things to know

• First solo exhibition by William Monk in Japan.
• Works painted between 2021 and 2026 in London and New York.
• Artist references films including Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura (1960) and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
• Monk spent a month-long residency at the Neuendorf House on Mallorca in 2024, which obliquely inspired some works.
• Exhibition title derives from a meteorological phenomenon where daytime sky darkens from storms, volcanic ash, or solar eclipses.
• Works explore Marc Augé's concept of "non-place," where human relationships, histories, and identities are erased.