Karuizawa New Art Museum Gallery [Whitestone Gallery Karuizawa] will be holding "IT WAS", the third solo exhibition by contemporary artist MADARA MANJI. After graduating from school, MADARA MANJI moved to Kyoto to learn the basics of metal engraving techniques, which are the basis of his work. He learned the basics of various metal processing techniques under a metal engraver, and continues to hone his skills to this day, producing highly acclaimed works in the field of contemporary art. For an artist who always sees his work as "a research activity based on imagination and curiosity," every material is a means of expressing the proposition "What is existence?", and his thinking continues to expand. This exhibition "IT WAS" is linked to the exhibition "ALIVE" held at Shiga Kogen Roman Museum, and there is a strong relationship between these two exhibitions. In particular, the installation work "Work by Traces of Waves (title undecided)" in this exhibition was created using the work "SKIN #01" exhibited at the exhibition "ALIVE" at Shiga Kogen Romantic Museum. The titles of the two venues, "IT WAS" and "ALIVE", form one word. This method of expression is an example of the artist's idea that "the human mind is made up of a huge amount of information and complex causal relationships between opposing factors" that transcends space. Since his solo exhibition "Antagonism and Trancesendence" held at this gallery in 2017, MADARA MANJI has exhibited in a wide range of countries and regions both domestically and internationally. Please take this opportunity to see the new frontier of MADARA MANJI.