Cool Oil Paintings: Shiba Kōkan and Aōdō Denzen

The "Cool Oil Paintings" exhibition held at the Fuchu Art Museum was an exhibition that drew the audience (if that is the right term) into a strange and fascinating world of painting.
Standing before the works of Aōdō Denzen, one finds the perspective and depth to be somewhat ambiguous, and at first glance, they are strange paintings that make you wonder, "Is this cool?"
However, that very question might be the trick behind this exhibition.

In the works of Shiba Kōkan, while the precise depictions of butterflies and birds capture the eye, the cat in the foreground is drawn with surprising flatness.
This gap in expression within a single piece invites the viewer into a strange excitement.
The exhibition's commentary radiates a unique originality, praising both "simple and flat expressions without technique" and "gorgeous expressions that exhaust technique," while ultimately concluding that "the intent is what matters. Being vivid is more important than anything else."
In other words, it argues that beyond the presence or absence of technique, the life force possessed by the work is the core.

This perspective is refreshing, and it convinces one that making the viewer's heart race is the very essence of art.

And then, the works of Noriyuki Ushijima radiate an overwhelming presence.
While inputting the gritty realism of the area around the Tama River, his high level of skill in freely manipulating the degree of abstraction and the subtlety of color in his output leaves the viewer in awe.
One can feel a perspective akin to that of a master cinematographer in film.

Elements such as field of view, angles, lens selection, and lighting are of course important, but more than that, it reaffirmed the basics of how to cut out the "reality" unfolding before one—the scenario, direction, and acting—and at what distance to deliver it to the audience as fiction, directly connecting the painting to the viewer to conduct passion.
This event had the power to confront viewers with these "basics of the basics" and make them reconsider the essence of art.

The catalog is also wonderful, and the exhibition, produced by the Fuchu Art Museum staff—including a guide like a quiz-style pamphlet for school children called the "Kōkan/Denzen Expedition Team"—was a collection of their intelligence, energy, and sense, filled with mechanisms that left a vivid impression on the audience.
The exhibition runs until May 11th.