Disconnected Pattern - Zdravko Toic - Hiromart Gallery - Tokyo

 Thus the man who is responsive to artistic stimuli reacts to the reality of dreams as does the philosopher to the reality of existence; he observes closely, and he enjoys his observation: for it is out of these images that he interprets life, out of these processes that he trains himself for life.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Birth of Tragedy 1872 p. 15

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Art

Currently on show at Hiromart Gallery in Tokyo there are some very interesting artworks by New York based, Croatian born artist Zdravko Toic. These mixed media artworks by Toic that at times consist of collage, colour and sumi ink, handmade paper or string take the viewer of voyage of one artist’s aesthetics discoveries from remembrances.

Human memory is a strange creature at the best of times and it acts independently from one human to another and strangely/randomly manifests itself in unity and diversity with all these other living beings remembrances through time and space.

What kind of patterns evolve from all these exhibited remembrances by various living beings through time and space with the influence of delay is amazing to say the least. For at times human remembrances may be displayed as a peaceful gesture, others a lazy movement or through majestic artworks or smallish playful or poetic colour ink traces on paper as Toic has achieved so well within this exhibition.

It appears to be true that all patterns are disconnected in visual arts for the human experience as it tries to emerge from internal conscious, into an artwork that is understandably so littered with stops and starts due to the way the artist works through time.

What might has been produced by Toic within this exhibition is a very engaging series of artworks representing the engine room of his artistic praxis being the choices of colour, materials, papers and mark making creating a kind of aesthetic poetry within the space. So if you're in Tokyo please go and have a look at the artist’s praxis.

Link to gallery  

http://hiromartgallery.com/hiromart_gallery_tokyo/shows_%28eng.%29/entori/2016/3/4_Disconnected_Pattern.html

The Cats from Japan - Kobe Artists Museum - Rokko Island - Kobe

This is an outstanding exhibition, it’s a knockout, fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable, it’s got just about everything to exhibit from an artist's praxis and the idiosyncratic societal memory seen manifested through the motif which happens to be a cat or more precisely the cats of Japan it’s a want to visit show.

The exhibition has so many images of cats you lick your lips for it is a tasty visual feast as there is coloured cats, lady cats, mean cats, sexy cats, scaredy cats, fat cats, slim cats, demon or ghostly looking cats, fighting cats and lucky cats, there is just about every sort of mood, colour, texture and shape one can imagine, and that’s what makes this show so important for artists to see, it’s about how the human imagination transforms the cat into something spectacular to see.

There is in this exhibition cats printed by Ukiyo-e Masters to artists who live in the now and what is so stunning is how all these cats in painting, print, ceramics and sculpture though the last two hundred fifty years, that have been sequentially curated, presents such great viewing pleasure and highly educational in how humans and cats behave.

For example, there is a ukiyo-e print by Hiroshigie titled; 浅草田甫酉の町詣 Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival, c 1857 - 58, the cat peers out of the window from a house above a village or suburb of Tokyo with snow covered Fuji's majestic presence in the distance, directly above the what one might call a snobby postured well off cat, seemingly content in its own existence and upmarket lifestyle, this is no poor cat that's for sure. 

For in the bottom left hand corner of Hiroshigies print Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival there is a grouping of  four Kanzashi which may well represent the owner of the cat looking out the window in well off, one couldn't imagine a rice farmers wife having so many. The cat is unlike the rice farmers in the middle distant of Hiroshigie's ukiyo-e for there life is hard and the leisure of looking out a window doesn't seem to be in their lifestyle. 

(link to Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival here https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/100_views_edo_101.jpg)

There are many stories within the images like the one above as witnessed in Hiroshigie's print but like the cat, take time to study the imagery on show. Lastly, the catalogue is well put together and if you like art and cats its a must buy, the amount of imagery within it supports the exhibition extremely well, so if you're in Kobe don't miss this stunning exhibition at Rokko Island link is below.

http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/culture/culture/institution/yukarimuseum/index.html

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/

Sadaharu Horio - Performance - Abeno harakasu - Osaka - Japan

It is not often one goes into a brand spanking new shopping centre (actually it is in the highest building in Japan as one understands) and sees such a performance with many of the community participating as evidenced in the photograph above with Sadaharu Horio in Osaka.

During the course of the afternoon Horio's performance (from about 2pm to 6pm) there were many shoppers who stopped, stood, looked and in some cases participated in the painting of coloured dots all over the papered cubic area, which was great to see as they may have never engaged in a live art performance before.

This kind of performance by Horio is important for it maintains that most critical relationship with the everyday day visual arts spectator,  whether the audience member is a serious arts viewer or occasionally visits such events, it does not matter, what matters is that the artist is out there in their terrain and understanding what is happening in that environment. 

Therefore when the artist works in the public space they can partially understand the mood of the societal memory, then translate those sensations into further art performances, whether they create artworks with political, cultural or wabi sabi themes is up to them but at least it tends to make the art current.

Horio seems to involve as many people as he can from the community, its great to see and at times mesmerising, he is a very rare artist indeed, he is not locked away, he stands with the people. For example, many a time whilst walking through the subway in Kobe, I have come across Horio's co workers water colour art group exhibition from the shipping industry where he worked at in Kobe and there somewhere amongst this show is this  most unusual art piece by him it always brings a smile to my face.

Horio's Osaka performance was a clever for he had managed to use the creativity of the audience (young and old) integrated with this very appealing randomness in the way the audience just participated in painting around Horio's designated squares of no contact and just leaving dotty traces of paint and at times more youthful scrawled paint marks, thus revealing that randomness and control as an idea in painting can present very interesting outcomes.

Back to Horio's performance in the shopping centre for it was fantastic to see to such an art space within this modern shopping complex, presenting spontaneous public art at its best, a great idea and visionary for the organisers and one surely hopes that it continues into the future.

Seiichi SHIBATA - Gallery Yamaki Fine Art

Seiichi SHIBATA -Obtuse relief, Evil Night Park

Wood (Katsura, etc,)Acrylic, Guoche 

h 650 xw 580 x d 100, 2015

SHIBATAI's artworks resonate an ambiance of menace, that presence which evil creates as evidenced by the cat above in the artwork, titled; Obtuse relief, Evil Night Park (which is savvy in its construction into the corner of the gallery) as it is about to devour the innocent bird for dinner. 

But SHIBATAI's art seen in the above image appears to bring to the audience a set of complex ironies about the realities of life, being what is evil to one, may well be a very natural act to do for survival of another, which makes you think are some deeds of supposed evil a natural form evolution.

For example, no one likes to see a bird eaten by cat but the Tomcat needs to survive if no one feeds it, so therefor it is a hunter by night and the park is its killing ground for food, its necessity for life and this may constitute that this particular perceived act of evil, after all, is basically necessary for the beast to survive.  

And this is where the fog of what is justice and what is unjust starts to smother the societal memories perceptions of what is evil and what his good, and is there an absolute demarcation line of any real clarity for humans  throughout time and space, for which history has revealed that  those in power often tend to make what is right and wrong up as they go along through life for their own ends. 

What this exhibitions by SHIBATA appears to confront us with is more to do with our own measures of good and evil, what are they, who formed them are they lasting benchmarks or do they shift daily within our lives in our desires for money, pleasure, comfort, food, wine and any other necessity or excess as at times some people like to fly somewhere for holiday, to an unspoilt, pristine landscape, well knowing that  the plane pollutes the earth we live in, which may reveal  to us, humans are ironic creatures.

And human desires seems to be where the ironies of what might be good and evil exists with its subsequent manifestations of truth and lies. This is a very good thought provoking exhibition  by SHIBATA so if your in Motomachi Kobe do go to Gallery Yamaki Fine Art for a look link is here:

 http://www.gyfa.co.jp/en/exhibitions/seiichi-shibata2015.htm

A - taro Matsuo – HAZAMA - Ashiya Garo - Kobe

 A - taro Matsuo 

Currently on exhibit at Ashiya Garo by  A - taro Matsuo is a series of artworks that are multi-layer collages consisting of burned paper, magazines and pigments. What is so intriguing about these artworks by Matsuo is that they tend to represent a kind of time travel because in a sense he appears to be creating a kind of fourth dimension in object making, meaning one can feel the sense of his studio praxis as it happened within this exhibition, it’s like being in two places at the same time and it's a very strange sensation indeed. 

It's not often one observes artworks that appear to resonate a sensation of travelling back wards into time where apriori events of making can been experienced with such clarity as evidenced in the aforementioned artworks, and this is where Matsuo's exhibition becomes all the more stranger.

For example, in the above image of Matsuo's collage there is a very strong sensation of travelling or almost falling back into the time of his studio praxis and it is true humans cannot travel back into time but artists can pursue their own artworks back into time If Matsuo choose too!

And this is where the ideas resonating from Matsuo's exhibition becomes very thought-provoking so lets speculate a little bit, imagine if he takes the above art object off the wall within this exhibition and reworks the original sensation from apriori praxis through travelling backwards with his memory through time, it will no longer be the same artwork, if or when he places the art object back within the gallery space, even if the artworks title has not changed, he has destroyed the original intentionality's of the first creation. 

Matsuo artworks appears to alert one to the concepts of shifting dimensions of time, for if Matsuo returns to the apriori memories of praxis then alters the artwork at the top of the page, his remembrances will be guiding the studio praxis in the duration of making art , from two differing spaces of remembered time thus causing a memory oscillation within praxis between the past and the moment which is very interesting.

It seems physical time travel within human memory may well possible and that is what this exhibition by Matsuo apparently reveals to us. This is an inspiring show by Matsuo, he appears to allow the audience to ponder possibilities from this world and that's how life and artistic praxis should be, left open and not closed off. So if you’re in Ashiya please visit this most interesting exhibition. Link to gallery is below.

Link to Ashiya Garo 

http://www.ashiya-garo.com/work/20150301_matsuo.html