2011年5月 5日

Taizo Koyama, Faith in Painting


 

Only a few days ago we saw the close of a solo exhibition "On the Wall" by Taizo Koyama.  I wanted to spend a moment recalling the exhibition's Opening Party, because  it reflects on something I have not seen for a while and something I have missed.

 

Throughout the week before his opening, Koyama-san orchestrated the operations in the exhibition space slowly and deliberately. He sometimes discussed options with his assistant but most often he was pensive and quiet. He seemed, as one would expect, to be thinking through the dynamics of the relationship between the various works, but with a particular determination.


on the wall.jpg

 

 The show was a mix of paintings and drawings. The surfaces were articulated and aged. The colors were muted and their ranges narrow. This does not mean that the room was dark. On the contrary, there was a quiet and lively dialogue in the room; it seemed warm and full of activity.

 

On the evening of the Opening Party, chairs and small stools were brought in and the exhibition space was converted into the venue for a small meeting. At the front of the room before a large painting that had the sense of a diptych, there were additional stools including one for the host. 

 

At 18:00 promptly, we all took our seats and Taizo Koyama took his seat at the head of the room. He began with a brief history of his work and a recollection of the travel that informed his thinking. All this was by way of introduction and gave us insight into his sense of the "Wall". It was all really quite delicate and felt very private. By that, I mean that these were very personal thoughts and I felt a sense of nostalgia being in the room and listening to this memoir.

 

Surprisingly, there was a point at which he turned his attention to the room and asked us, the viewers to comment on the work. This was, in a sense, an astonishingly frank recognition of this role of the viewer and I, for my part, was caught unprepared.

 

This gesture changed the moment. Suddenly, there was the gracious advent of diverse interpretations, a cooperative reforming of the presentation. Koyama-san gave us not only the paintings, but also the opportunity to create and add our own texts to the exhibition. As viewers, we became creators, and not in secret.  Our observations were not muted or uttered only to ourselves. They were spoken aloud, shared and they joined the paintings as objects of further critique.

 

The conversation in the gallery that evening moved from a meditation on the life and presence of the wall to a discussion of the politics of art in civil society. It was a strong, opinionated discussion, the kind that fosters a healthy cultural life in communities.

 

We have all seen events where "openness" is little more than a gimmick. This artist's talk was anything but that. It was a strong affirmation of the role and the life of the viewer in the work of the artist.

Taizo Koyama has an elegant mind, a quiet manner and a powerful presence. His "Artist Talk" and his paintings were a gift.


See Taizo Koyama website: http://www.taizo-koyama.com/profile.html

Paul Venet 03イベント
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