Yuichi Hirako
Dai-ichi Life Gallery is a spacious venue whose permanent display lines up a long row of “VOCA prize-winning works.”
In that same space, a solo exhibition by Yuichi Hirako — recipient of the VOCA Encouragement Prize at “VOCA 2013” — was held, and I paid a visit.
Hirako’s 2018 has been remarkably active; he also held another solo show in May.
“Leftover”
The exhibition itself is modest in scale — three paintings and four sculptures.
Yet each of the three “paintings” is in fact one work composed of four canvases joined together. They are also very large, filling the space right up to the ceiling.
Each of these four-canvas ensembles bundles together works that are, in fact, entirely distinct.
What I love about Yuichi Hirako’s work is the vividness of its palette, the wide array of plants and animals adopted as motifs, and the indescribable atmosphere that suffuses everything.
Personally, my sweet spot is somewhat smaller works, around size 10 to 30 — I find they cohere better at that scale.
Standing before a piece this monumental, however, you feel almost teleported into the already powerful world of Yuichi Hirako.
I would love to add a Hirako to my collection someday, so I keep an eye on every exhibition.
I managed to visit on the very last day of the show, and had the good fortune of catching Hirako himself at the gallery.
Hirako is enormously energetic, describing his works freely and in a booming voice.
“Whenever I get stuck, I fall into a downward spiral I can’t reverse — so I put the brush down and move on to the next work. Then, when the moment is right, I come back and try again.” That is the kind of straight-ahead, unstoppable impression he leaves.
Since this was the first time we had met, I had — in my own quite arbitrary way — pictured him as a “brooding, geeky literary type.” My assumption was gloriously overturned. He is, in fact, a bright and lively young man.
I look forward to his continued success!
