Tomio Koyama Gallery Tokyo - Kyoto | TKG Ceramics | TKG Editions Kyoto

» Introduction:

In Yoshino Masui's watercolor paintings, usually single animals are situated in the mysterious scenery of minutely painted patterns. These patterns, consisting of countless dots and lines, are not simply decorative. They convey unsettledness and tension in the delicate and mysterious atmosphere. The artist's intension of grasping the world by repeating, the fragments of memories, and "all kinds of unsettled sentiments" as she calls, are projected on them.
On the base of watercolor, Masui paints over and over. As a result, unique textures emerge from both incidental effects created by spreading paint and the elaborate lines. Animals situated there, usually cats, horses, and birds, have been observed by the artist as familiar objects. Among them, horses are the important source for inspiration as well as motifs for her, who commutes to the horse racing tracks. On horses, Masui states;

"I always keep my eyes on the bunch of horses around the 3rd corner. Covered by the big tree for a moment, the chunk of colors is approaching like a bullet from the horizon. A winner and losers will be decided on the horizon ahead. The horses pass from horizons to horizons many times, and leave. I wish there is another horizon beyond. This time calm and slow one...."

In Masui's paintings, these horses and other animals correspond with the backgrounds organically, and are depicted as if they were in myths.

» Concept:

"Goodbye Halo" is the name of a female racehorse in U.S. After retiring, she was imported to Japan as a bleeding horse. Now retired from it as well, she stays in a farm in Hokkaido, Japan. Her time may have been finished, but the trace of thoroughbred will continue.
A painting also titled "Goodbye Halo" is created with the delicate character of a pigment that is very difficult to fix into the base and fragile to any kind of water. "Halo" has a meaning of a circle of light shown around a holy person. Including this work, 7 to 8 works will be on the view.
Based on the artist's wish, 10% of the sales will be donated for the earthquake victims and animals affected in the east northern Japan.

» Artist Biography:

Yoshino Masui was born in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture in 1976. She graduated from Tama Art University's Department of Fine Art in 1999. She lives and works in Tokyo.
She was discovered by Tomio Koyama at GEISAI #6 in 2004. She is included in "Younger Than Jesus: the Artist Directory"（Phaidon/The New Museum, 2009）, which presents the selected artists born after 1975. This is the third solo exhibition at Tomio Koyama Gallery since 2006 and 2008.