Dorothy Circus Gallery is pleased to welcome the summer season with the double solo show dedicated to Millo and Hikari Shimoda, two great characters of the international contemporary art scene. This event is supported by the Fondazione Italia Giappone (Italy Japan Foundation) and is part of the Japan-UK Season of Culture 2019-2020.

The colourful and disarming artworks by the Japanese painter Hikari Shimoda will intertwine with the emotional and poetic Street Art by the Italian Millo, filling up Dorothy Circus Gallery’s walls in both Rome and London. The intense dialogue between their artworks highlights their unique representation of adolescence and modern youth. Each artist will present a brand new collection of 10-12 works on canvas of various formats, all differently being part of a common theme. They will both display stories, expectations and fragility of timeless generations—today's teenagers and of their parents, yesterday’s eternal children.

In her new series of paintings titled Stand Up, Savior, Hikari Shimoda, paints using bright colours and illustrative techniques that combine brushstrokes, lettering and collage. Her work is uniquely made by a juxtaposition of horror and sweetness, a dichotomy that perfectly reflects today's society. Star-eyed children are a direct quote to the superhero child of Manga culture, their desire and strength to grow to protect all the children of the world from violence and loneliness. At the same time these characters also reveal the uncertainty and fragility of their own future and that of a tainted and lost childhood.

Similarly, Millo's art reflects on the fragility of human existence and on the importance of each individual’s personal growth, in relation to the social and urban context in which they live. Millo constantly investigates our surroundings, the place and time we live in, our space in the world and within the walls of our homes. He constantly enriches his personal research with new suggestions, using his unmistakable aesthetic to explore our inner nature. His murals are like doors open into the human mind and heart, and resonate with the most intimate and sincere desires, giving a new voice to those feelings that bring us closer to each other: Love, Hope, Justice, Loneliness and Fear. Whilst discussing universal themes of modernity and youth, this exhibition will also engage the visitor in a direct and open dialogue between British, Italian and Japanese cultures despite the uncertainties of the present.