Burart Diary
Burart Diary is published every Monday morning.
Written in a diary style, these posts drift through the editor’s day-to-day and the little realizations that come along.
Feel free to read them whenever you have a spare moment.
Li Edelkoort
The other day I joined the press tour for “DESIGNART TOKYO 2019”.
The project that moved me the most was Google’s “comma”.
It was curated by Li Edelkoort, the Dutch trend forecaster who was named one of TIME magazine’s “25 Most Influential People in the World”.
To pause. To think. To be poetic. And to connect.
Those small moments — present in everyone’s day — are what we call “comma”.
I wanted to bring a piece home to display and asked about it, but of course they were exhibition-only and not available for sale.
I did receive a tenugui (hand towel) featuring the icon from the main visual, so I have hung it in a visible spot indoors.
After seeing the show, I resolved to place my own “,” (commas) into my sense of time and thought, and to keep a more relaxed frame of mind.
Art can prompt small realizations in daily life and shift one’s rhythm and values. It is a rewarding kind of viewing experience.
On the ground layer that makes a painting’s surface
The sheen of the paint, the movement of the brush. Thick strokes, thin strokes — a surface that carries the artist’s breath.
Whether it is oil or acrylic, I love the matière — the painterly surface — of a painting.
The other day I was on a gallery tour.
After seeing exhibitions by Minoru Nomata, Naoya Inose, and Naoki Yamamoto one after another, a work by a young artist I saw somewhere else stopped my flow completely, its flaws standing out too clearly.
What was wrong? It was immediately obvious that the ground layer had been treated roughly and untidily, and this affected the whole work. It did not seem to be a deliberate choice — even to an untrained eye it came off as a careless, half-finished result. The works I had seen before were painted so cleanly… I felt very disappointed. This artist has been getting a bit of attention lately, so I have to wonder whether a change in environment can start to affect the work…
Good work naturally divides opinion, so preferences vary — but sloppy work can end up losing the fans who had been supporting the artist. I want to keep half an eye on how things develop from here.
By the way, Yamamoto’s works were very good.
“What genre is this, exactly?”
An acquaintance of mine — a fellow collector I am close with — is putting on a collection exhibition.
She is a female collector named Sachi, who focuses on street-art works.
The title is “What genre is this, exactly?” — a fun title.
It was planned together with the artist Kitaro Okamoto — an artist and a collector planning a show together is an interesting move.
Beyond just the collection on view, plenty of works will also be available for sale.
Even a glance at the participating-artist lineup shows Sachi’s characteristic street-art flavor.
I am very much looking forward to it.
Collection exhibition "What genre is this, exactly?" Venue: TRiCERA MUSEUM Dates: November 2 – November 9, 2019 * On the first day (11/2), opening reception starts at 18:30 Hours: 11:00 – 20:00 (until 17:00 on Sundays and public holidays) Organized by: Kitaro Okamoto, Sachi Participating artists: hykrx, Mai Nagamoto, Hikaru Narita, dabstar, MAW, NAGA, FUSE, Kitaro Okamoto
On Kore-Kore-ten
And Kore-Kore-ten, which we announced on 10/15, is already getting a big response.
The traffic to the release article has been climbing, and gallerists, fellow collectors, and artists I meet on gallery visits have all been reaching out. I have also heard that the participating gallery is already receiving inquiries.
We will be publishing more related articles going forward, so stay tuned.
The “collector home visit” feature I have been wanting to do for a long time now has its first interview in the bag, and I am hard at work on the article.
Closing notes
Last week I was finally able to meet and talk with an artist I had been hoping to see for a long time.
Some collectors deliberately avoid talking to artists, but in my case I try to actively engage with any artist I am interested in.
I want to properly understand the artist’s thinking, then look at the work and deepen my understanding.
The artist I met this time was highly intelligent, with a broad artistic outlook, and I felt an overflowing energy toward their practice.
Their surprising responses and thought-provoking way of thinking gave me a chance to sense their talent as an artist.
I acquired a small work — even at its small size, it was a wonderful piece that wove in the artist’s identity and philosophy.
Narumi Sasaki’s solo exhibition is coming to an end soon. It is a wonderful show — if you have not yet been, I highly recommend making the trip.
Well then, from this weekend we are into November.
I am planning a trip overseas in November. Something I am quietly looking forward to… See you again soon!
art on Editor-in-Chief
Mahiro Kobayashi
2019/10/28
