TAB Event - Ryuki Yamamoto "Shi Shin Kei

Ryuki Yamamoto "Shi Shin Kei - Super Privatism"

This event has ended.
At Mizuma Art Gallery
Media: Painting, Photography

Yamamoto was born in 1976 in Mie Prefecture. He is known for his detailed photorealistic self-portraits that are full of humor. He calls his works "super privatism painting," and he often uses the self-portrait as a device for translating his questions and discoveries in this society and in his life onto the picture surface by depicting several hundred miniature "hims," or one giant self-portrait.

When we walk around the city, we are sometimes shocked to find people wearing emotionless masks. However, we hardly notice the fact that we ourselves have the same facial expression as they do. One of Yamamoto’s works, "Untitled (Back)," in which a number of naked Yamamotos appear hunched over and covering their ears, might remind us of those states we find ourselves in. Its strong contrasts and sharp contours drawn in pencil are superbly softened by Yamamotos’ naked buttocks, ultimately overwhelming us with its simple composition. His other artwork, "With Mother" was created based on the shocking fact that his mother, as she appears in a student photo, looks exactly like a girl whom he fell in love with. In this work, the artist wears a deadpan expression, standing beside his mother with a smile.

[Image: Ryuki Yamamoto, "With Mother" (2008), acrylic on canvas, 2680×2005mm]