[Wherever] Mana Konishi wherever Fuchu Art Museum
There are familiar works in the permanent exhibition room of the Fuchu Art Museum, and
since this was an artist I had been wanting to see all at once, I was happy to rush over on the first day.
Man, it was good... First of all, the title is great...
wherever
"Wherever."
Anywhere is fine. I can go anywhere.
After reading the origin of the exhibition title, which features a positive "wherever," in the artist's own words, I entered with a big smile on my face. It's nice that the artist's statement is posted next to the overview and greeting.
Since photography is prohibited inside the exhibition room this time, most of the photos are missing, but there were some that were allowed to be photographed.
Overview
Mana Konishi is one of the artists expanding the possibilities of landscape painting in contemporary Japan. After studying at an art university on the East Coast of the United States, the works she painted after returning to Japan won the VOCA Award in 2006, a gateway to success for young artists. Her intellectual paintings, which capture magnificent landscapes on large canvases and are meticulously drawn to every corner, have gained widespread popularity. Her restrained depiction is similar to photography, evoking a sense of nostalgia and gently speaking to people's memories.
The changes that occurred in the 2010s became decisive during the COVID-19 pandemic in the early 2020s. During her isolation, Mana Konishi visited metropolitan parks near her home, their attached greenhouses, and streams, and painted those landscapes. The distance to the subject narrowed, her brushwork became improvisational and generous, and colors were chosen intuitively. The lightness and gentleness that seem to ease the tension of us looking at the paintings are her charm.
This exhibition is Mana Konishi's first large-scale solo exhibition at an art museum. We have carefully selected representative works from the 2000s and will also display plenty of recent and new works. Please enjoy these landscape paintings that depict places that are everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
A realistic world seen from 3 meters away
There was an elderly gentleman who entered the exhibition room at the same time as me.
As soon as he entered the room, at the array of paintings spread out before him,
he let out a relatively loud exclamation: "Wow! That's skillful!"
I almost laughed, but I really empathize with that "Wow!" feeling.
It was that kind of first exhibition room, where you can't help but speak out loud.
First of all, it is a pleasure to have the vivid colors catch your eye. In terms of déjà vu for the colors, it might be easy to imagine David Hockney.
Linked with the blue sky of the painting.
When you step back 3 meters, a clear, photo-like world spreads out.
It is interesting that when you go "Wow!" and get closer, you realize that it is not necessarily drawn in detail.
There is a position from the screen where you realize, "Huh? Is the brushwork surprisingly rough?"
Perhaps people have different preferences for the distance from the painting. I liked looking at them from more than 3 meters away.
For example, in the case of works by Kaoru Ueda, who is famous for his super-realistic paintings of raw eggs, the painterly texture is difficult to convey even when viewed from quite close. It's the flatness of the screen, or perhaps the traces of brushwork have been erased.
Yasuko Iba's paintings also have a relatively flat and smooth surface when viewed up close. You cannot see the traces of the brush.
In Konishi's paintings, if you get close, you can clearly see the traces of the brush, and you can even tell that the handling of the paint is relatively raw.
However, once you step back and look at it, that roughness of the screen doesn't look like that, and it seems to fit beautifully there. It's mysterious.
When you look at paintings while enjoying doing things like this, you end up staring at a single painting for a long time. You can keep looking at it. That is its charm.
An artist with ties to the Musashino region
Although it is being held at the Fuchu Art Museum, there is also an aspect of her being an artist with ties to the area.
Many of the paintings created in recent years are based on landscapes around Fuchu and Musashino, and it was interesting to see the déjà vu of "Oh, I know this place."
There was a painting of water lilies with a composition like Monet's Water Lilies.
I chuckled, but this is probably the scenery of that greenhouse in the park where I went on kindergarten parent-child field trips with both my eldest and second sons. Since they were all little, we laughed about whether they could ride on the big water lily leaves.
That's how nostalgia suddenly comes back from the vivid color screen. I deeply think, "Ah, what a good landscape..."
There are no windows in the exhibition room, but it is an exhibition that makes you feel like you are bathed in light.
If you want to feel bright at the end of the year, please go see it.
