Muscari

「Muscari」

Muscari, the plant depicted in the center of the screen. It is perhaps the most clearly depicted subject in this exhibition. The overlapping dark green leaves form a V-shape in the painting and have a presence that remains in the viewer's eyes. The light in this work may be the presence and life force of the Muscari.

Tomoko Arakawa was born in Mie Prefecture in 1975, graduated from Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in 1998, majored in oil painting, and received her MFA from Nagoya Zokei University in 2009.

This will be Tomoko Arakawa's second solo exhibition of new works at the gallery, following last year. In her previous show, “ If you stand facing the wind,” Arakawa worked on larger works. 

Because Arakawa up to that point had mainly painted paintings up to 40 cm on the longest side. 

It may seem like a trivial matter, but for Arakawa, large works were a challenge into uncharted territory. Although Arakawa was struggling with composition and motifs, she and we were able to show large works that we were satisfied with at the last solo exhibition titled “ If you stand in the wind.” Through this experience, Arakawa switched his new goal from “wind” to “light” expression. The comments that Arakawa sent us spell out the most ordinary and natural things. There is no major historical or social narrative in Arakawa's paintings, which are derived from them. The afterimages of our ever-evolving digital society also seem to have no place in her paintings. What can be said, however, is that the reality that Arakawa wants to entrust to her paintings is the passage of time in our daily lives, the wind on our skin, and the light reflected in our eyes. It is precisely because we live in such an era that Arakawa has chosen to express herself by concentrating her attention on the “real” and painting in a simple, straightforward manner. In the blue and green based works in this exhibition, you can see a gentle breeze and pale light. Although it is a small daily life, I feel as if Arakawa's paintings are telling us that it is precious and a very big story. We hope you will feel the smile, the fine gaze, and the emotional swings in Arakawa's works.