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MAT Exhibition vol.2
“Something of Painting”
Report|Katsuhisa Sato

Start from“Something of Painting”

I have participated in MAT, Nagoya as a member of the committee since its establishment and been working on examining the relation between art and the community. Based on its local characteristic to have many of painters reside in the area, together with tasks and concerns identified through my career as an artist, I picked up some local artists to curate this painting exhibition entitled “Something of Painting” as MAT Exhibition vol.2.
Assuming that it would be a series of exhibitions focused on paintings, I asked four of the following painters who effortlessly work on both two-dimensional and three-dimensional media beyond boundaries of materials, techniques and categories; Gakudai Kawasumi, Akiyoshi Kojima, Chikai Hori and Nao Morimoto.
Kojima’s three-dimensional work consists of canvas panels emerges with strength in serenity by accepting painterly subjects as his own assignment through converting symbolic motifs seen in classical paintings into elements in modernism paintings in order to connect them in parallel.
Meanwhile, Hori’s work fulfills the condition what a good picture has, in terms of being pleasant to the eye before presenting theoretical clues, by visualizing selection process in art-making as fixed layer structure. There was this three-dimensional object that has the same structure in the gallery that enables us to trace Hori’s playful handwork in art-making process.
On the other hand, Morimoto pursues “groundless qualities” in her work. The works exhibited remain unnamed seem to be seeking for “something” while they choose not to land anywhere, escaping from explanations.
Kawasumi made a great achievement by transforming work structure itself during the exhibition period in order to modify the exhibition space with time axis. The fact that the exhibition allowed such attempt to have even four-dimensional expression in the range of painting, assured me that there is so much possibilities left yet in the medium of painting despite my recent concerns with the situation.
There have been a series of talks entitled “Talking about Paiting” with contemporary artists and researchers during the exhibition period, aspiring to share problems to be revealed by each study case on art-making process and actual works.
During the talk “Holding on to painting” presented by Hidehiko Tajima, Junji Yamada and Hinako Kasagi, daily art-making process including financial management and common understandings beyond generations were discussed, while “Tricks and methods” by Shota Hanaki, Yuichiro Maekawa, and Kazuo Amano dealt with their influences and turning points in their art-making process and works.
Gakudai Kawasumi, Akiyoshi Kojima, Chikai Hori, Nao Morimoto and Atsuhiko Shima talked about their concerns with the situation in the recent art scene that seems to restrain their creation, and examined effective breakthrough focusing on the keyword “groundless qualities” during the talk entitled “A new phase of painting to come”. The number of participants increased each event again showed high interest for paintings in this particular community.
I believe it became a good opportunity for us to reconsider what is to paint really feel now that seeds have been sown, as I see participants of the talks above described hold other public talks, or above discussed problems that didn’t reach a conclusion during the event still have been mentioned in the exhibition statement as reactions in response to the exhibition and former discussions given during the talks.

PROFILE
Katsuhisa Sato

Artist
Born in 1973 Hiroshima, lives and works in Aichi, Japan.
satokatsuhisa.jimdo.com

《Thing》2015