Off-Line
Duration : 11:00-19:00 (closed on Monday)
Opening : 2023.03.18-2023.04.30
Venue : Room 108, No. 3, Lane 1363, Middle Fuxing Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China 200031
Tel : +86 (0)21 5496 1918
Web : https://www.shunartdesign.com
Artist : 尻上寿 SHIRIAGARI Kotobuki 内田 江美 Emi UCHIDA 水野亮 Ryo MIZUNO
This is an unconventional exhibition that seems to be straying from the main theme. Why is it unconventional? The contents attached to and disseminated by the works of the three artists exhibited seem completely different from contemporary art under the traditional concept. It is a little off-line with the convention, and the thought is rather “Four-dimensional space” than otherwise.
When I first saw the works, I originally was trying to probe into Japanese humor, because the clues implied in the emotional transmission of the three artists’ works all have their sense of humor, but when “humor” can be described in words in a serious manner, it’s not very humorous anymore, so I think it’s better to leave it to everyone to come and experience it by themselves.
The works of Emi Uchida can hardly be separated from carbon pen. She once talked about the preservation of the traces of carbon pen, “When you are dissatisfied about the work or make mistakes, you can erase them with rubber. When you can’t erase them anyway, you can erase them with lines. It’s a denial of the past. The traces of negation form a more interesting shape over time.” In this way, in fact, some “remnants” of the abandoned past will unexpectedly take on an interesting form. On the canvas of the “Trace” series of oil paintings, the oil paint with different layers of colors is used as the background, and the carbon brush lines are drawn on the canvas. Lines and lines interweave with countless gaps of various polygons, and then the thin triangles or polygons are painted into “dots”, the “sparse” and “dense” constructed by the lines form the different depths of the areas on the canvas, and the different areas interweave into “dots” “and “surface”, In this way, dots and lines can just be used to construct a multi-dimensional space that extends infinitely, so the “Unlimited” series is created in this way.
Emi Uchida is also engaged in the creation of paper-based “Ukiyos”. Out of the multi-dimensional and colorful space of the previous creation, another “flat” Emi Uchida is displayed this time. The creation series of paper-based Ukiyos combines ink, pen, pencil, silk, and carbon, and combines Japanese two most representative types of art: Ukiyos and Anime. The animated cartoon characters are either hidden or monotyped on the characters of Ukiyoe painting in the Edo period (1603 -1868), and some of the characters are even replaced. The plot is somehow “off-line”, which is ingenious that would make the audience laugh.
As a cartoonist, contemporary artist and video director SHIRIAGARI Kotobuki seems to have three different identities. In fact, he believes that the works created by kids-like hearts would be an ideal situation. Therefore, sometimes he uses his left hand to paint in order to avoid the skillful expression of painting lines.
HU Xiaojiang, the editor-in-chief of the study center of abnormal cartoons, talked about SHIRIAGARI, “He draws very well. The paintings are relaxed with strong control and flexibility, and he maintains vigorous curiosity of creation.” The Father of Cartoonist, Akira Tsuzuka, once commented about SHIRIAGARI, “His painting is actually very good”. In Japan’s society, there is a view that he is [clumsy and skillful]. He had won the purple ribbon commendation medal, and the total number of comic books published has been 135 since his first comic book “Spring of Aili” was published in 1985, of which [Michisan, Hido san] was made into a film by the playwriter Kankuro Kudo.
Despite the pity feeling that it would be great if we could introduce SHIRIAGARI ‘s comic books to China, let’s take a look at his work, “Sleeping Uncle” and “Skipping Uncle”. The former piece of work asks the question of “What’s the difference between a sleeping dream and waking reality”, the other would be “Jumping rope straight in one place is just jumping in the same place all the time”. It seems that the light of wisdom reflected by the experience of Yuru-chara Uncle is still shining behind the work.
Ryo Mizuno, a man of science and engineering, the game designer’s “brain hole” is even more off-line. In addition to insisting on creating 1000 exotic princesses for two and a half years, he drew also 300 monsters on 8 inches (35 × 25cm) paper at the beginning, and then 432, 1064, and 4256 on the same paper in the grids, as if the cellular division. The key is that each figure is different.
It can be said frankly that we can hardly understand what he paints. There is no so-called connection between his four-grid cartoons, the painting language would be alienated, unrestrained, and whimsical. Each picture can be watched for a long time, but absolutely possible that they will be seen with a glance. If you enter his world a little bit, you will fall into another secret space, which is divorced from reality, and very “off-line”. The daily plot seems to originate from ordinary experiences that are illogical and absurd. The essence of the plot can also be “boring”. Sometimes it makes people feel bored or laugh which shows people can get fun from “boring”. This series of paintings was published by “DRAWINGHELL” with the title “4” and the author names “3”.
If we look back to the future, no matter whether it was offline or parody, it could be categorized as an artistic creation. The charming mystery of offline is that when you meet this moment, some thoughts of “ah, it can be so” might jump out of your mind, and the fixed thinking is broken in an instant, and some internal constraints are released. It is quietly comfortable to get a more relaxed way of life, and people living in the society would be livelier.
MAO, 2023.3.9.
