Amos Eno Gallery is pleased to present Event Horizon, a solo exhibition of new paintings and sculptural elements by Japanese artist Hiroko Ohno. The work on view explores the invisible structures that connect cosmic formation, geological time, and human experience.

Humanity has entered a new era of seeing the universe. Recent advances in astronomy—including the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, which produced the first images of a black hole—have revealed phenomena once thought impossible to observe. Rather than illustrating these scientific discoveries, Hiroko Ohno's Event Horizon responds to the questions they provoke, presenting a new body of paintings, accompanied by selected sculptural elements, that explores the invisible structures connecting cosmic formation, geological time, and human experience. Through painting and subtle spatial interventions, the exhibition invites viewers into a space where visible forms continually suggest deeper layers of matter, energy, and time.

This exhibition builds on an inquiry that has shaped Ohno's practice for more than three decades. Her fascination with the universe began not through scientific research but through direct experience: witnessing the setting sun and rising moon simultaneously across the horizon in Mongolia's Gobi Desert profoundly altered her perception of Earth as a planet suspended in space. During her first visit to New York, she met Minimalist artist Tadaaki Kuwayama, whose rigorous pursuit of reduction and spatial clarity encouraged her to further refine her own visual language. Since then, Ohno has developed an ongoing dialogue with astronomy, geology, and cosmology—not to explain scientific knowledge, but to explore enduring questions of existence, time, gravity, and humanity's place within a vastly larger continuum.

Developed over several years, the works in Event Horizon investigate moments of transformation—from the expansion of the early universe and the formation of galaxies to the immense gravitational fields surrounding black holes. Circular forms, suspended structures, and fields of stars recur throughout the exhibition, not as scientific diagrams, but as a visual language through which realities beyond direct human perception might be imagined.

Material itself is central to that investigation. Ohno works with traditional Japanese mineral pigments formed over millions and billions of years within the Earth. Some materials, including platinum, predate the formation of our planet, allowing the works to embody—not merely depict—deep geological and cosmic time. The paintings themselves reveal multiple temporal layers, with dark blue surfaces often concealing luminous fields of red beneath them, suggesting that every visible surface contains unseen histories and processes extending beyond immediate perception.

Drawn by questions raised through the Event Horizon Telescope project, Ohno traveled to Chile's Atacama Desert, where she visited the ALMA Observatory and painted the Milky Way beneath one of the darkest night skies on Earth. These firsthand observations became integral to the development of her Galaxy Event Horizon series and reflect her commitment to direct experience in an increasingly mediated world.

By bringing together materials that embody billions of years of planetary and cosmic history with works shaped by direct observation and contemporary scientific discovery, Event Horizon creates a space where art and science meet through wonder rather than explanation. At a moment when astronomy continues to expand the limits of human perception, Ohno's work invites viewers to look beyond the visible world and to imagine their place within the universe. Seen from a cosmic perspective, humanity is no more than a tiny speck of dust. In the Anthropocene, her work encourages us to reconsider the value of all forms of existence—not only human life, but also animals, plants, rocks, fire, and the materials that have shared Earth's history for billions of years.

About the Artist

Hiroko Ohno is a Brooklyn-based artist originally from Tokyo whose work explores the relationship between the universe, gravity, and human perception. Her paintings are philosophical inquiries into why the world exists as it does—connecting cosmic phenomena such as black holes, space, and time with the sensory experience of being human.

Born in Tokyo, Ohno holds a BFA and MFA from Musashino Art University. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Sanagi Fine Arts (Tokyo); Radio House Gallery (NY); Desbrosses Gallery (NY); Homma Museum (Yamagata); and Takashimaya Gallery (Tokyo). Her work is held in collections at: University of Tokyo; Keio University; Hiratsuka Museum of Art; Homma Museum; CUNY QCC Art Gallery; Lyman Allyn Museum.

About Amos Eno Gallery

Amos Eno Gallery has been a fixture in the New York art scene since 1974 when it opened in Soho. The nonprofit space  is open Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. and run by a community of professional artists from New York City and across the country, along with a part-time director. ​

Amos Eno Gallery's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Amos Eno Gallery is also funded in part thanks to the generosity of the Joseph Roberts Foundation.