Yutaka KOYANAGI – Toward the Light –

Yutaka KOYANAGI
Toward the Light
Jan. 20 – Feb. 25, 2012
Tokyo

Anouk, 2011
oil on jute
53.5 × 46cm

The exhibition will primarily feature a series of oil paintings of plants on coarse jute.

Making a bold departure from his early works based on advertising photography and his suburban nightscape series (up to 2007), Yutaka Koyanagi has developed a new body of work taking his own “daily life” as a starting point. With an intimate gaze, he depicts modest everyday objects: potted plants growing under his care, a bar of soap wearing away, and a candle resting on a simple plate.

“I explore the point where the world and I intersect, and I create with the intention of first grasping for myself the works that emerge from that point,” the artist states.

On the highly textured jute canvases, the traces of the act of painting and the shifting scenes of everyday life emerge with a certain richness and quietude.

This marks Koyanagi’s first solo exhibition in Tokyo in approximately four and a half years.

candle, 2010
Oil on jute
53 × 45.5 cm

Eustoma, 2010
Oil on jute
35 × 28cm