Whitestone Gallery
I went to “GALLERY COLLECTION,” the 50th-anniversary special exhibition being held at Whitestone Gallery’s Ginza New Building.
Among a gallery whose lineup features many works by heavyweight artists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Yayoi Kusama, the ones that stood out with brilliance were the works by “Hebime.”
It seems they were chosen as pieces that “hold their own” even when mixed in with those by Nara and Kusama.
Hebime
According to the gallery staff, Hebime is an artist in their mid-30s based in Osaka. They layer acrylic paint many times over like strata, and after the paint dries they carve into it with a sculpting knife to express distinctive colors (a technique called acrylic scratch).
It’s hard to reproduce in a photo, but seen up close the cross-sections are beautifully carved away, with a very smooth texture. Although it seems to be carved in the same way, the colors that appear even in adjacent spots show gradual changes, letting you feel the depth of the patterns.
Apparently these works can be enjoyed by changing the orientation in which they’re displayed — vertical, horizontal, diagonal. The gallery staff showed me by changing the orientation, and you can sense the work’s depth as its expression shifts with its orientation.
Also, it seems standard to make about three works in a similar color scheme, and pieces in different sizes were lined up as well.
Hebime apparently has a tendency toward manic depression, and the works, too, sometimes change according to Hebime’s own condition. Because this exhibition’s works had relatively many bright colors, there’s a good chance they were painted in a manic state.
One three-dimensional work was also on display. You can’t use it like a box, but when you turn it over you can see the many layered “strata,” which was interesting.
The peacock-like use of color is dazzling.
Stare at it for a while and you feel as if you’ll be drawn in.
The works swell up and look plump in proportion to the layers of paint. The base is said to be board rather than canvas.
Color Schemes
As you can see from the group of works below, the overall color schemes vary widely. Some works are composed of many rainbow-like colors, while others are composed of simple, easy-to-read color schemes.
However, works using a lot of red are apparently rare. It seems Hebime’s thinking is that “red paint is pricey, so I don’t use it much.” Interesting, isn’t it.
In Summary
It’s a way of creating works using the interesting technique called acrylic scratch, and while the spotlight tends to fall on the singularity of the technique, your eyes are captivated by the wonderful degree of completion of the resulting artworks.
Going forward, I find myself expecting them to broaden their range of expression more and more, with new approaches that exceed our expectations.
