Kobe Art Marche 2015 Japan - one of the Best Venues to have an Art Fair.

Painting by Yuka Umino 会場： 創治朗 sojiro -Contemporary Gallery

at Kobe Art Marche 2015

Kobe Art Marche 2015 must be held in one of the best locations in the world, its a knock out position with its  stunning views from the mountains close by to the harbour, its breath taking scenery and there were more than just a few very good artworks on show in this art fair

One young painter that caught my eye was Yuka Umino from  会場： 創治朗 sojiro -Contemporary Gallery her work is really in your face from the sensual applications of oil traces, to subject matter which is mostly figurative.

It's not often nowadays one comes across such a young committed figurative painter and its very refreshing to see, plus its especially wonderful to witness an artist whose paintings contain such a strong sensory impact on first visual contact as Yuka has achieved here within this small to medium body of artworks. 

The other issue that is so likable about Yuka's paintings is that they remind one of the British artist Paula Rego not so much in style but the kind of personal histories that are displayed within her motifs, and in the way she places the figure on the canvas. Yuka's is aware of how she guides the viewer into the picture and what is important for her to exhibit to the audiences and if it causes one to question there position within the societal memories all the better for modern art, this critical questioning painterly attitude by Yuka reveals there is a growing maturity and impact in what is happening within her studio praxis.

                                           Sculpture by Takashi Yukawa 

                                                              Ashiya Garo 

One of the issues that is noticeable at times is the lack of figurative sculpture that is on show nowadays, its like something from another time but that is not the case at all. If anything figuration in sculpture is vitally important now for it has a kind of humanity imbued within it when created well that tends to resonate with the visual audience far more at times than many other mediums in art do.

So it was great to see wood being carved, turned and painted so exquisitely by Takashi Yukawa at Ashiya Garo because the sensation of wanting to touch the form surfaced very quickly when the optics picked up the wooden exterior qualities, alerting ones nervous system. 

Other artworks one enjoyed were the scintillating glass works by Yukako Kojima at Gallery Ponte from Kanazawa imbued with the deep grey turquoise hues that seduce the eye into an almost trance like enquiry, it is in a way looking like into the void of blackness, interrupted by the intermittent speckles of flickering interplanetary light, making most enjoyable. 

Lastly, in the Gallery Access there was a delicate selection of small craft works ranging from ceramic bowls to glass sake cups, these one wanted to hold, touch and even drink sake out of in the now which is a credit to the makers of the objects being Hitomi Sugimoto, Masako Niimi, Kazumasa Izuno and  Nobuyasu Yoshida. To the organisers, artists and there representative galleries thanks for putting on a great art fair in one of the most beautiful locations in the world being Kobe.  

Kobe and the Supermoon Rising 

Link to Gallery Access artists 

http://www.art-marche.jp/2015/artist/nobuyasu-yoshida.php

http://www.art-marche.jp/2015/artist/masako-niimi.php

http://www.art-marche.jp/2015/artist/hitomi-sugimoto.php

http://www.art-marche.jp/2015/artist/kazumasa-izuno.php

Link to Yukako Kojima

.http://www.art-marche.jp/2015/artist/yukako-kojima.php

Link Ashiya Garo

http://www.ashiya-garo.com/work/

http://www.art-marche.jp/2015/artist/takashi-yukawa.php

Link to Yuka Umino

http://www.art-marche.jp/2015/artist/umino-yuka.php

http://gallerysojiro.wix.com/sojiro

Dreaming of Transperent Canvas, Masaru Kurose Gallery KAI Kobe Japan

Artwork by  Masaru Kurose

Every time I go to see Masaru Kurose's exhibition at Gallery KAI his artworks become more adventurous (thats a very good outcome for an artist) into what a painting might be experienced as and in this exhibition, they take in the gallery walls behind the image due to the paint traces being placed on clear vinyl providing a great sensory experience.

Kurose appears to have taken up the spirit of adventurous praxis where some of the Gutai artists had finished in there  journey outwards into their own uncharted aesthetic horizons. But Kurose has moved outwards towards his own unseen aesthetic idiosyncratic avant-garde horizons, for his risky ways of making and learning about what art might be experienced as is certainly revealed within these  artworks on show at the KAI Gallery.

Another issue of what is so wonderfully refreshing about kurose's artworks is the lack of a commercial factor, it appears purely about his studio praxis and what he can achieved, he really doesn't seem to care about the economic aspect of his painting.

And that is what ones really senses about some of the Kobe avant-garde artists, they've no fear of painting and living/working hard as long as the art is good and similarly that goes for the many galleries that support them, its impressive to experience and very audacious to live out that's for sure. 

These current painting of Kurose are probably his best so far as for what I have experienced in they way he uses the hues from the paint traces as light travels through the acrylic coloured traces on the surface of the vinyl onto on the wall behind, making the artworks no longer static paintings but transgressing into some kind of kinetic painterly /sculpture  its very beautiful and at the same time strange to experience, for one can view the artwork in front and behind the frame. This was a very good exhibition and one looks forward to Kurose next!

Link to Kurose's web page

http://www.from-to.jp/art/