Let yourself be enchanted by the prime mover of Japanese Pop Surrealism. Tokyo based artist Yosuke Ueno dreams up an extremely elaborated personal world which is representative of the iper-contemporary multicultural art scene he belongs to.
Ueno taps from underground culture, manga and graffiti art as well from the pop imagery and iconography in order to spot on elements that are both Japanese, European, and American.
In Ueno’s brand new collection created for his solo show, the viewer will discover hundreds of hidden symbols from different cultures, which have been melted together to fuse in rainbow landscapes popping out apparently as memories from a fantastic dream world.
Having a closer look we will discover that Ueno’s paintings depict a sort of Micro Cosmos born from the cultural mix up of a contemporary language and his historical background.
In this kaleidoscopic paintings’ series the Artist refers to the world of “Yaoyorozu no Kami”, (eight million Gods) inviting us to experience and to dive deeply into the new philosophy created by the Contemporary culture. The viewer is caught by this transcended scenario made up with magical characters and a general animated atmosphere. “Positive Energy” gives a clear idea about this moving quality, by showing a windy, immense space in which a bizarre parade leaded by a little boy is crossing the scene.
The group involves fantastic animals, unidentifiable figures bizarrely clothed, carrying other unusual object. The whole composition refers to Miyazaki’s breathtaking dimensions; specifically it may be a parallel version of Howl’s weird castle, and its dreamy scenarios driving the viewer’s mind through a timeless journey toward the incredible.
A cultural Japanese background mixed with the incessant desire to look beyond reality, is what mainly connects the two artists, moving their creativeness toward the surreal. Going back to Yaoyorozu (eight million) as an example of a large number, is the idea behind the exhibition concept, the theme is The Cultural Mix Up as a multitude of Micro Cosmos coexisting in the same Time, Space and Mind, constantly. The mélange between contemporary themes and ancient beliefs reflects the artist’s personal view of the word. As a result, his depictions show completely inventive subjects, still they reveal some historic elements.
In the painting “Memento Mori”, the artist reproduces the popular, fairytale figure of Snowhite under a completely new, mystic light. The scene recalls the crucial moment of the story, when the protagonist is about to eat the lethal apple. The consequence subsequent to her action is then pre announced by the skull at the center of the scene.
As happens in dramatic Baroque paintings, this symbol is a clear reference to the idea of death as an enduring presence. The combination of elements makes the paining a“Vanitas” creation made of existing symbols and the artist’ s authentic rendering of the themes of time and death. Specific references to classical themes also emerge from “A Swallow in the Sun”, where the floating figure recalls the Greek mythology of Icarus here reinterpreted through the artist’s surrealist eye. “Mugen Sanui” takes its name from “Sansuiga”, a Far Eastern classical paining of landscapes, aiming at the idealisation of the existing nature, which here shows the artist’s imaginary world through a magical personification of Nature. Another recurrent theme is that of the ancient “Yin and Yang”, the Positive and Negative contradictory poles brought into life by the artist who gives them an anthropomorphic shape, suggesting their significant energy. Among the strong existing Forces there is efiL (Backward of Life), which is the essence of life itself.
EfiL is the dominant “strong force of the nature”, a huge tree carrying simultaneously the weight of time and the power of metaphysical wisdom. Each one of his artworks is accurately detailed by a refined painting technique mixed to spray cans interpositions.
Those paintings convey a message of positivity and cosmic vitalism each one with its own fantastic dreamscape and challenging characters born from Ueno’s typical palette and contents. The catchy scenarios are populated by both fairytale and natural elements all running in a psychedelic carousel. Even the Disney tale’s heritage has found a deepest meaning becoming Memento of Time and philosophy of gentleness.
With fourteen brand new artworks, either meticulous compositions on large canvases and graceful portraits of youth, this show will leave the viewer aware and inspired by the Micro Cosmos that fills the surrounding world. This dynamic scenario leads up to a modern vision of intellectual freedom, which has to be considered as a state of mind that shows the artist’s process of making art by enclosing all the invisible energies into a canvas.
