Hino gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Hiraku Kore-eda from Saturday, September 30th, 2017.

In the 1980s, Hiraku Kore-eda’s zinc-coated plate works attracted attention but he gradually shifted his creative direction to painting during the 90s. These later works were produced by firstly making sculptures using the same zinc-coated plates, and then photographing them. He would then make paintings on canvas referencing this photographic material. The resultant series of paintings was entitled, “Skin of Light”. This progression shows that Kore-eda’s interest shifted from a concern with the object itself to a focus on light and color, which make the object perceived, or phenomena created by brightness and chroma. Kore-eda attempts to recreate a sort of invisible image onto canvas and he took this approach again for most of recent works exhibited in this show.

The motifs used for the new series of Kore-eda’s paintings are plants. This time he filmed plants in a botanical garden and then selected video stills to be used as reference for the oil paintings. As a result of cropping the motion picture, some parts of the image are defined and some are blurred. It could be said that Kore-eda is more concerned with fluctuating light and variable colors than the plants themselves despite their initial selection as motif. He attempts to capture altering light and color at the pixel level to bring out a new aspect. In a past interview, Kore-eda said that the observation of things per se became the motif for his work (rather the things themselves). He always sets up specific subjects when he makes paintings yet these subjects are not intended to be steadfast motifs for the work. To discern events occurring around the motifs is more important for Kore-eda’s creation and therefore he makes an attempt to perceive things from every angle. Taking several steps before finally putting paint to canvas may also be a sign of how much observation of things means to the artist. This approach could be construed as a commentary on how obscure perception can be, but at the same time, shows a deep belief in sensorial experience as well and Kore-eda hopes that the paintings generated by this means will be perceived in multiple ways by the audience.

Hino gallery is presenting a solo exhibition by Kore-eda for the first time in ten years. We hope you will enjoy his most recent works from the newly developed painting series.