Kentaro YOKOUCHI – On Cultural Grafting –

Kentaro YOKOUCHI
On Cultural Grafting
September 29 (Thu) – November 5 (Sat)
Tokyo

Kentaro Yokouchi is known for his uniquely textured paintings created with materials such as glossy satin fabric and dyes. In this exhibition, titled On Cultural Grafting, he unveils his latest works, featuring a new theme and a broader array of materials.

Imagery from auction catalogs and past cultural hybridizations—images tied to modern historical contexts such as Delftware, Japonism, Nanban art, figures of saints, and the Age of Discovery—are once again “grafted” onto the Japanese soil of “painting.” Evolving from his previous practice of using satin and dyes, his newest works establish a relationship with materials rooted in Western painting traditions, including charcoal, oil paint, and primers. By doing so, he achieves a physical state of grafting that seamlessly integrates with the backgrounds and foundational layers.

“Although they may seem incongruous at first glance, by embracing the ‘mottled desires’ generated by our predecessors and attempting to construct a new framework, I believe we can give rise to expressions of a transitional, grafted state even in the present day.”

This marks the first exhibition to showcase a body of work born from these diverse experiments surrounding “Cultural Grafting.”

adapting form – ts 2010
146 x 113 cm

adapting form – hbt 2011
119 x 60 cm

adapting form – ds 2010
146 x 113 cm

adapting form – hrs 2011
146 x 113 cm

adapting form – om　2011
146 x 113 cm

cultural grafting – study 12 2011
146 x 113 cm