photo: KIOKU Keizo
Painting of Japanーbasso ostinatoー
| Artist | MISE Natsunosuke |
|---|---|
| Year | 2015 |
| Material/ Technique | Kumohadamashi, Shiromashi (Japanese paper), Seiboku (grey ink), whiting, gold leaf, acrylic, grommet, printed material |
| Size/ Duration | H346 × W940cm |
| Copyright Notice | © MISE Natsunosuke |
| Year of acquisition/ donation | 2015 |
| Description | Born in Nara, Japan in 1973. Lives and works in Yamagata. Originally based as an artist in the Kyoto-Nara area, Mise moved to Yamagata around 2009 to take up a teaching position at Tohoku University of Art and Design. Since then he has continued to explore the possibilities of contemporary art as he experiments with an ethnographic approach to the scenery and customs of the Tohoku region. Combining spontaneous images created by dripping Chinese ink or using decalcomania with detailed motifs rendered with a fine brush, he pastes on fragments of Japanese paper one by one, composes, and develops his pictures. The results not only create an effect peculiar to a particular region, they also reflect the painter’s desire to express the creation and expansion of the universe not visible to the human eye. Both these works were displayed at the “Collection2: History, Regrowth, and Future” exhibition held at the museum in 2015–2016, where two works of the same title previously presented at separate exhibitions were joined one on top of the other. The term “basso ostinato” in the title is a musical term referring to the persistent repetition of the same musical voice in the bass register. The Japanese philosopher MARUYAMA Masao used this same term to explain the peculiarly Japanese metamorphosis that occurs when foreign ideas are introduced into this country. With this term providing the context, Mise pieced together sections of Japanese paper to form his support and used the technique of collage to incorporate various elements into the picture plane in such a way that the subject of the work radically altered its form. In the middle of the work, which is held together with string, there is a circular void reminiscent of the Rising Sun flag. Around this void one can make out two maps of Japan that look like they are about to be squashed, and the sense of emptiness or pressure this evokes could be said to encapsulate Mise’s image of contemporary Japan. Through the image of an “upside down Japan,” which in turn draws from the “upside down map” that originated in the Hokuriku region, Mise reconsiders “Japan.” And through the “flag of all nations” that does not specify a country, he gives expression to a borderless “improbable world” beyond existing frameworks. |
NOTES
This Collection Data page contains the works and materials in the collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as of April 1, 2018.
Artists are listed alphabetically by artist’s surname.
Works and materials by the same artists are listed according to the date of the work in principle.
Works whose dates are unidentified are listed at the end of each item. Some works are not listed according to the date of work due to their relations.
The data of works and materials are listed in order of title, production year, material/technique/form, dimensions, donor’s name, copyright holder and credit for photograph.
Dimensions are given by height (H) x width (W) in centimeters for plane work, and height (H) x width (W) x depth (D) in cm for 3-D work. Diameter (Ø) is used for circular work.
For the name of country or city, the name currently used in English is listed in principle.