Gaze and the Other
I visited “Gaze and the Other,” a group exhibition featuring Yukimasa Ida, one of the most momentum-driven contemporary artists at present. The venue is KOTARO NUKAGA, a gallery in Tennoz.
The exhibition “Gaze and the Other” centers on paintings that take the nude as their theme, offering an overview of bodily representation from the early twentieth century to the present.
The lineup of participating artists is extraordinary: Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Tsuguharu Foujita, Egon Schiele, Tom Wesselmann, Makoto Saito, Marlene Dumas, Keith Haring, together with the twenty-something Yukimasa Ida — nine artists in total.
The large-scale work by Keith Haring was not for sale, but the gallerist mentioned that if it were sold, it would fetch a price exceeding one billion yen.
Yukimasa Ida’s works included pieces that went beyond the theme of nudes, but this time the featured large-scale works displayed an outstanding level of accomplishment.
Because the group show also featured Tsuguharu Foujita, Ida painted Foujita’s portrait for the occasion.
Right: Paul Cezanne, “Group de Baigneurs,” pencil and watercolor on paper, c.1880, 12.0×19.0cm
The works of Yukimasa Ida, drawing wide attention, had already sold out by the time the exhibition opened.
Even his smallest F4-sized works are priced at around 600,000 yen. Despite the rising prices, his popularity shows no sign of decline. Looking at the works in this exhibition, the level of completion is truly outstanding.
