Untitled

Hiroshi Sugito
Untitled
2016
52.5 x 65.0 cm
Oil on canvas
frame size: 66.0 x 78.0 x 5.5 cm

In Sugito’s painting, motifs that resemble children’s drawings are occasionally used, such as shapes of houses, trees, rain, planes and ships. These shapes do not hold any specific meaning. Sugito’s inconclusive paintings go back and forth between the abstract and concrete, making the border of painting and space more ambiguous. The barriers between the artwork and the viewer are taken away, and our imagination is stimulated while observing the work that does not clearly define itself. Another attractive point is the repetition of geometric motifs and soft colours which brings about a unique poetic sentiment.

This work was exhibited in a joint exhibition with Masato Kobayashi and Takeshi Makishima held in 2016. Shapes that look like ships are a motif that Sugito often use, yet as it is highly abstracted, it also looks like a house. The background can be the sky, or mountains, or the sea. Space is configured free of gravity, with a free sense of colour and rough brushstrokes like scribbles that challenge our normal perspectives towards paintings.

Furthermore, this painting has a wooden frame made by the artist, that looks like a classic painting that is mismatched with the contemporary painting. It is a small trick, yet it makes us realise the relation between paintings and space, or the existence of paintings.

(Commentary: Miwa Taguchi / Translation: Emma Tsuji Harrison)