The very excellent Mr (aka Masakatsu Iwamoto) has his show Metamorphosis: Give Me Your Wings now on display at Manhattan’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery.

It’s a show that boasts a bunch of the Japanese artists most recent creations, all of which are tied together by the theme of Japan in its post-earthquake and tsunami stage. Not so much the physical effects, but more the longer lasting emotional repercussions: the anxiety, the fear and the sorrow.

While dealing with these heavy themes, Mr still manages to create paintings that have a lightness to them, via his almost anime style of work. His characters are doe-eyed, cutesy little things – even if they are handling AK47s.

The body of work conveys a kind of “smile on the outside” feeling, while keeping the darker shadows still visible.

Lehmann Maupin Gallery is at 540 W 26th Street, New York City.