Toshiya Masuda “Nostalgic Future”
At Art Fair Tokyo 2019 I stopped by the booth for Toshiya Masuda’s solo show “Nostalgic Future.”
The presenter was the gallery Mito Chu Trading.
Toshiya Masuda, born in 1977, makes work that resonates strongly with viewers of the same generation.
The piece below is Converse’s classic sneaker “All Star.” High-tops were a trend for sure.
Like the early Famicom, these are three-dimensional works rendered in chunky pixels.
The scale of the pixels is pitched just right.
The pieces are made by stacking slab-cut clay in rings, then carefully carving them to hone the shape into a fully three-dimensional form.
* You can grasp the process by watching the YouTube clip below.
Toshiya Masuda’s works are, as the phrase “pixel-art ceramics” suggests, made of ceramic.
The precision needed to shape them so meticulously is remarkable.
Another point worth noting is the beauty of the coloring.
The carefully applied paint delivers clean, LEGO-like colors (many people apparently mistake them for LEGO).
There is craftsmanship here so precise it hardly seems like handwork.
Even when you nail focus in a photograph, the pixel-art still teases the eye with a slight visual dissonance.
If I could, I would love to have touched and held the pieces to feel the ceramic — but that pleasure belongs to the collectors who own them, so I held back.
I found myself wishing I could see many more works.
Overview
Art Fair Tokyo 2019
Venue: Tokyo International Forum, Hall E
Dates: March 7 (Thu) – March 10 (Sun), 2019, 4 days (last admission 30 minutes before daily closing)
Press View: March 7 (Thu) 13:00–14:00
Private View: March 7 (Thu) 14:00–16:00
Vernissage: March 7 (Thu) 16:00–20:00
Public View: March 8 (Fri) & 9 (Sat) 11:00–20:00, March 10 (Sun) 11:00–17:00
Admission: Advance / 1DAY Passport 4,000 yen (tax incl.); Door / 1DAY Passport 5,000 yen (tax incl.) (elementary schoolers and younger admitted free when accompanied by an adult)
