GALLERY MoMo

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GALLERY MoMo Ryogoku is pleased to represent a solo exhibition of Yosuke Kobashi, entitled “many many sea / new boy, new page.” 

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The self-portraits have been the central practice for Kobashi. He uses violet touch and colors like Paul Gauguin, as well as certain decorative qualities of Matisse's style. This unrestricted sampling of techniques can be considered one of the methods to maintain freedom throughout the paintings. The self-portraits posed or moved in the paintings without any rules. Those methods create Kobashi's unrealistic dream world. Recently, Kobashi has expanded his motif from self-portrait to familiar objects such as his close friend, animals, nature, and landscape. These motifs show the artist's own everyday life and his free-minded. 

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In addition, the experience of collaboration with other artists influenced his sense of space to exhibit. Kobashi has developed his installation with the paintings and considered the paintings is one of the elements for the installation.
Using the motifs and the free expression, Kobashi intentionally eliminates the concepts and thoughts from his works and the titles. It seems that his works are just optimistic and on the wrong side of the contemporary art world always because it requests the concept, however, we can see the elements of diversity in his works. Kobashi attempts not to put borders and limitations and portrays his permissiveness avoiding being categorized. 
 

Kobashi even does not like to be defined his works like this and tries to be free from the words. This stance of Kobashi applies to installations consist of various motifs and materials and expresses his pleasure to create art in paintings.   
Getting a free feeling, Kobashi accepts all change even though the changes have inconsistency for him. Recently, he moved to the countryside near the sea from Tokyo and drew more natures in his works. The motifs of his works have changed a lot, however, the optimism and the freedom in his works have never changed.       

 

Kobashi translated the part of the title “many many many sea” from a quote from the Japanese song “Setsunaimono (fragile)” by Chara. The actual quote of the song means that eye, eye, catch my eyes, but the sound of Japanese is near to “many many many sea”. Kobashi translated the original title into it because this exhibition represents his new life near the sea and a new page of his life.      

 

Yousuke Kobashi was born in Nara, Japan in 1980 and the gallery has been working with Kobashi since 2006. After he graduated from Osaka University of Arts in 2003, he exhibited in Kobe Art Annual Project 2003. In 2006, he was selected as one of the artists for the Visio of Contemporary Art 2006 and had a solo exhibition in Art Tower Mito, Japan. Also, he joined the group exhibition entitled Nostalgia and Fantasy at The National Museum of Art, Osaka in 2014.

 

 

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Artist comment

New boy, New Page,
The new images of new life.

Many Many Many Sea.
I thought the sea from the hill seems to be perfect. 
This experience made this painting, but there is no sea in the painting.

Is the image of the painting from the experience new? 
I just can’t help feeling the winds in my new life.
But what I felt was spilling out when I started to paint at home. 
You mean this, Chara? Or not.

I quoted “Many Many Many Sea” from the Japanese song “Setsunaimono (fragile)” by Chara.
- Eye, eye, catch my eyes / Spilling out / fragile thing -

 

Yosuke Kobashi, 2021
 

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