Yutaka Aoki expands the scope of painting through an examination of the relationship between painting and the surrounding world, and through the many new possibilities that are born from that exchange. This exploration results in works that migrate freely between two- and three-dimensionality, and in works that respond not only to the material and production process, but also to their relationship with the audience’s gaze. Aoki’s approach also seeks to capture the ever-changing countenance of paintings, articulated as single moments along the axis of time. By repeated experimentation and the application of newly discovered processes, Aoki is continually rediscovering painting itself.
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With the tree as the point of intersection, a plethora of elements became interspersed, intermingling and permeating one another. This occurs in Aoki’s work, as well. He describes his thought process in the following way. “Confronting lines and injecting color, liquid particles adhere to a surface. Becoming one with their direct environment, this creates a particular hue. By creating a situation in which time intersects with various peripheral elements, the painting gains momentum and reflects the present.”
Aoki’s paintings suggest that sensibility and rationality, history and the present, chance and certainty, spirituality and materiality are harmonious, not contradictory. His work questions the division between painting and other forms of expression, and the separation of art from other fields. In doing so, Aoki is able to explore untapped realities and grapple with ideals that are only present through the act of painting.
Ranging from large-scale pieces to the artist’s studies, “Levels of Intimacy” at Kosaku Kanechika features fifteen new works by Aoki.
Kosaku Kanechika
Tokyo, Japan
