Atsushi Fukui “Arcadian”
I visited Atsushi Fukui’s solo exhibition “Arcadian.” The venue is Tomio Koyama Gallery in Roppongi.
This is Fukui’s seventh solo exhibition at Tomio Koyama Gallery — clearly a long-standing relationship.
The exhibition’s title, “Arcadian,” can be interpreted as the inhabitants of a utopia; Fukui’s works seem to depict a world that exists within a story.
The works on view are based on the theme “If open contact between Earth and extraterrestrial civilizations had occurred one hundred years ago, the world might have become far freer and more full of wonder.”
An imaginary world unfolds — a world one hundred years after the fusion of Earth and extraterrestrial civilizations, together with the inhabitants who live there.
Fukui spent ten years away from art, aspiring to become a musician, and he has deep connections with the music world.
His work can also be found on the jacket art of David Sylvian, formerly of JAPAN.
Fukui’s works employ a variety of blues, each with a deep tonality. The matière of the acrylic paint is beautiful.
A major feature of the works on view is the shift from Fukui’s previous method — drawing outlines first and then filling them in with color — to an approach in which the outlines are deliberately kept ambiguous.
Atsushi Fukui works out of a base in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Many of the strong works here incorporate motifs from natural landscapes.
