Burart Diary
Burart Diary is published every Monday morning.
The editor-in-chief of art on writes freely about art-related topics, everyday things he loves, and passing thoughts, diary-style. Please read whenever you have a spare moment.
Last week I visited Hara Museum of Contemporary Art for the first time in a while, and something surprising happened.
At Hara Museum ARK in Gunma, I had once run into an artist entirely by chance — and this time I ran into that very same artist again. What a coincidence! And there was one sad episode too. A poster from the Izumi Kato exhibition was on sale, but just as I was about to buy it, the customer ahead of me took the last one — my luck ran out. Regrettable. On the bright side, I did manage to get all 8 flyer variations from the Kenjiro Okazaki exhibition — so I’ll take that as a win.
Two Yoshitomo Nara events in a row
Last week I was able to meet Yoshitomo Nara himself twice.
The first was a special lecture by Yoshitomo Nara, “Days of Travel and Making,” held at Meiji University.
The lecture was held at Meiji University because Professor Masato Goda of the same university had contributed an essay to Yoshitomo Nara’s first solo museum exhibition, held at Yokohama Museum of Art.
The lecture was in two parts: the first half looked back on his travels through photo slides, and the second half covered his painting practice. Nara said that his own art-making activities take up “20%” of his time, and the remaining “80%” goes to various other endeavors.
His travel stories, through the photographs, conveyed a gentle and unhurried atmosphere. The talk moved along peacefully, filled with warm episodes that revealed his character.
The second half about art was fascinating.
It was moving to see slides of a painting’s process (adding, erasing, the surface changing dramatically) unfold. Nara’s remark that “it takes courage to erase a painting you thought was no good” left a strong impression on me. The slides recorded the process of painting and repainting the same picture many times, and it was striking to see that the final image ended up completely different from the start. His words — “I confirm the courage to change” — stayed with me deeply.
The making process Nara showed in the slides begins with arranging paints on the canvas, checking the balance, then destroying the picture, then repeating. In the end, he considers a painting complete “when a life dwells in it.” Nara’s talk that day was smooth and flowing.
When asked what kind of artist becomes successful, he answered, “If you’re the same as others, you end up competing. Do something different. It’s up to each person” — a memorable answer.
The second event was his 60th birthday, a kanreki (sixtieth) celebration.
It was a one-night-only music event featuring many rock artists Yoshitomo Nara loves.
Yoshitomo Nara turned 60 on Thursday, December 5, 2019. The event was organized to celebrate his kanreki. Wonderful performances were delivered by the female solo artist Rei and by Keiichi Sokabe. In particular, Rei’s cover of the Sex Pistols classic “Anarchy in the U.K.” was outstanding. Her melancholic, slow, solo rendition was moving, and layered with visuals that recalled the girls in Nara’s paintings — as if they had stepped out of the works — it truly stirred my heart.
Happy 60th birthday, Nara-san 😀
An artist as YouTuber
I learned that Atsushi Kaga, an artist I greatly admire, has opened a YouTube channel.
He is going all out — even live-streaming from the venue of a charity auction where his own works were consigned. Honestly, I was surprised.
https://youtu.be/u2GIB6TrmOk
The 5G era is nearly here, so I expect the environment for watching video to change dramatically for the better. I do want to make better use of YouTube myself, but editing looks like a lot of work, and for now I’m not actively pursuing it. If anyone knows good tools, please let me know.
An art-related YouTube channel I check from time to time is “NYC GALLERY OPENINGS”. It’s a valuable channel that introduces New York galleries by video, and it already has 15,000 subscribers. The videos filmed at gallery openings are especially recommended — you can feel the local atmosphere as if you were there yourself. I’d love to go to New York in 2020.
In closing
It’s the twelfth month, and I’m rearranging things at home.
I’m moving works into storage and re-hanging others, buying new bookshelves and reorganizing catalogues and artist monographs. I’m also compiling the Best 10 lists for exhibitions and DMs.
I got my New Year cards done early, so they’re already printed and delivered. I asked the designer who made my business cards to design them, and they turned out great. Lots of things in motion. The year is nearly over.
See you next week!
art on editor-in-chief
Mahiro Kobayashi
