ShugoArts

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Installation movie

 

Installation view

You can click on the image to see more installation images.

 

About

 

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My image is in my head, thus it is not physical. The true state of the image is fluid and it could manifest in any form, so no one can see it. The image becomes visible when it comes out of my head and acquires various forms. That’s what everyone is seeing.
“It is a rare occasion when the image’s true state and form match. For me, it’s always incomplete.”

It’s almost like I have to keep it incomplete to match…….

Masato Kobayashi “Paint of this Planet — Duifhuisstraat 52” p.340

 

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Kobayashi’s paintings are born from the harmony of real and imaginary light, expanding into the space and taking in what is in the space at the same time. The frame-like pieces of wood around his paintings are projected outward and bent, which give the viewers a hard time describing what they are looking at. It is unclear whether his paintings are complete. If a painting is a physical material that relies on the real world, notwithstanding the shape and size of its structural support, there should not be a clear border dividing the real world and the painting. By cropping its outer frame intuitively as “Painting of this Planet,” Kobayashi can simultaneously realize the two image worlds: the world in which he sees an image in his head and the world in which the viewers recreate their own through contemplation.

 

Masato KOBAYASHI, Model of this Planet (Woman with a Scar on Her Chest), 2021
oil, canvas, wood, ca. 220x220x65cm

 

“This Planet” might also be an intuitive frame that clarifies its nature. It’s like adding a frame around a painting to differentiate it from the wall.

Masato Kobayashi “Paint of this Planet — Duifhuisstraat 52” p.363

 

Masato KOBAYASHI, Portrait of the artist, 2020, oil, canvas, wood, 224x197x11cm

 

 

The horse portrait, having a chunk of paint on its nose like dirt and a paintbrush in its mouth, is the portrait of myself. —I have my own family.

Masato Kobayashi

 

In this exhibition, Kobayashi will present a new series of works in which he uses his model as his motif, in addition to the portraits of a horse in which the horse holds a paintbrush in its mouth and looks like it is about to come out of the painting. In one artwork, the depicted model is holding onto the side of the canvas and about to emerge from the canvas (Model of this Planet (Woman with a Scar on Her Chest), 2021). In another one, the traces that the fleeing model made creates a new painting (Running-Man, 2021). By letting the physicality of the painted object decide the physicality of the painting, Kobayashi’s paintings generate a reverse power dynamic where the model, not the artist, controls his paintings. After all, his image is not depicted on canvas but located far beyond meaning and concept. As the spectators of the planet, we will have to revolutionize the field of our imagination and create new images of our own. Along with this exhibition, we will present Kobayashi’s installation, A pair of artworks, exhibited separately = LOVE, connecting the Roppongi Art Complex, thanks to the support from the Contemporary Art Foundation. Please enjoy the exhibition.

July 2021, ShugoArts

 

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Exhibition overview

Masato KOBAYASHI Family of this Planet
Friday, September 10 – Saturday, October 16, 2021
Venue: ShugoArts, complex665 2F, 6-5-24, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Opening Hours: Tue-Sat noon-6pm, closed on Sun, Mon and Public Holidays
*The opening reception will not be held this time. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have shortened our opening hours.

A pair of artworks, exhibited separately = LOVE
Venue: Contemporary Art Foundation, 4F Piramide Building, 6-6-9, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Opening Hours: Thu – Sat, noon – 6pm, closed on Sun – Wed and Public Holidays
Supported by Contemporary Art Foundation

Curated by Minako Ishii

 

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