I had the good fortune of having my portrait painted by Kosuke Ajiro, an art-artist I love.
This was a program held during Kosuke Ajiro’s solo exhibition “attic” at the Kiyosumi-Shirakawa gallery “ondo STAY & EXHIBITION.”
It took place on January 13, 2019, during the run of the exhibition.
The portrait sessions were held inside the gallery.
Only three slots were available—a narrow gate—but I fortunately secured one and went on the day.
*Applications were taken via a first-come, first-served online entry form.
We began with a simple self-introduction and started once everything was ready.
Ajiro laid paints, brushes, and a paper plate (as a palette-substitute) out on the desk, pulling them from his bag.
This time the format was to paint inside a frame made from stone-powder clay on a wooden panel, and I was able to choose whichever frame I liked.
I chose a blackish frame trimmed with gold ornaments.
The frames were made by Ajiro. I picked the small frame at the bottom center (roughly 9 × 8 cm).
He had previously done a very Ajiro-like project called “paint the model’s previous life,” but this was his first time painting portraits. We began with no clear sense of how things would turn out.
Ajiro moving his brush while holding the frame in one hand.
Even for small works he normally spends a great deal of time, and given it was his first attempt at this project, we started with a generous “two-hour” slot.
*In the end, including preparation, it took exactly two hours.
Since I couldn’t see the work as he painted, the gallery staff took photos for me.
He first asked me what I wanted for the work, but since I love Ajiro’s worldview no matter how he interprets it, I left everything entirely up to him.
Green, yellow, blue, red, ocher, pink, black, and brown acrylics were squeezed out.
There wasn’t much for me to do as the model, but since I was curious about his method, I observed with great interest how he used his paints and how he moved his brush.
While he painted we exchanged all kinds of conversation, mostly about art.
He shared various things during the interludes: that he did not attend an art university but a design vocational school, his time working at a design company, his love of Munch and Rousseau, the house he lives in, and so on.
30 minutes in. Believe it or not, this is still a fairly early stage.
Fine brushwork here, rubbing the support with dry tissue there—even for a small work he stacked up many steps, and that came across to me. Alongside the finely detailed, careful labor, there were moments when his brush swept broadly across the whole surface. I was able to share the time it takes for a single work to reach completion.
He told me the work on the right took a full month to complete.
He asked me several times, “Aren’t you tired?”—kindly considerate—but watching him was so enjoyable that the time flew by.
45 minutes in. Another 45 minutes would follow, for about 90 minutes of production in total.
He attached a metal hook, added his signature and the date—finished!
The portrait’s conceit, he told me, is that of “the king of a neighboring country” within the world unfolding in the exhibition.
It feels awkward to say it about myself, but I was startled by how well it resembled me.
In real life I keep myself cleanly shaven, but he explained that “the image of a beard fit” and finished it that way. Was it that my face is bland enough that he wanted to add a beard? I don’t know the truth, but he says an image forms in his mind before he paints, and he heads toward completion accordingly.
Photographed together with pottery he had fired that morning in his home studio.
What do you think? As the person who was painted, I love it immensely!
The texture is superb, and the red of the crown, the white hair and white beard, all match the color of the frame—it’s a truly wonderful work.
The actual painted surface has a weighty, solemn texture—it turned into a truly dignified king.
What surprised me most that day was that throughout the 90-minute production, he faced the work without a single break.
He did not once reach for the plastic bottle of tea sitting there, keeping his brush in motion from beginning to end. His concentration was formidable.
Every single brushstroke was careful; he took his time bringing it to completion.
The work itself of course, but I also felt as if I had become one of the characters inhabiting Ajiro’s works—and in that sense too, this was a joyful program.
It became a truly favorite piece of mine, carrying the worldview only Kosuke Ajiro can convey.
A delicate brush hand and a careful painting style.
An artist who takes time on his works. *Even a tiny work took 90 minutes!
Concentration to face the work without a single break during production.
Kind, considerate, and a truly wonderful person.
Oh, and to all Ajiro fans! Starbucks’ current regional tumbler line “Japan Geography Series”—those are Kosuke Ajiro’s works. Just between us…
Overview
Kosuke Ajiro Solo Exhibition “atti”
Venue: ondo STAY & EXHIBITION
Dates: January 9 (Wed) – January 20 (Sun), 2019. *Closed Tuesdays.
Hours: 12:00–19:00
*Final day until 17:00
*Open on January 14 (Mon, national holiday)
■OPENING RECEPTION 1/12 (Sat) from 17:00
■EVENT: Small Portraits Date: Sunday, January 13, 2019
Times: (1) from 13:00 (2) from 15:00 (3) from 17:00 (each session about 2 hours)
Capacity: 1 person per session Fee: 8,000 yen + tax Booking: advance reservation required (first-come, first-served)
*Scheduled to travel to ondo, tosabori (Osaka) from January 24, 2019 (Thu).
좋아하는 미술 작가 Kosuke Ajiro에게 초상화를 그려 받을 기회를 얻었습니다.
본 기획은 기요스미시라카와의 갤러리 “ondo STAY & EXHIBITION”에서 열린 Kosuke Ajiro 개인전 “attic”에서의 기획입니다.
전시 기간 중인 2019년 1월 13일에 진행되었습니다.
초상화 제작은 갤러리 안에서 이루어졌습니다.
정원 3명이라는 좁은 문이었지만, 다행히도 한 자리를 얻어 당일 방문했습니다.
※웹상의 선착순 엔트리 방식으로 모집이 진행되었습니다.
먼저 간단한 자기소개부터 시작하고, 준비가 되는 대로 시작합니다.
Ajiro가 가방에서 물감과 붓, 팔레트 대용의 종이 접시 등을 꺼내 책상 위에 나란히 늘어놓습니다.
이번에는 나무판에 석분 점토로 본을 뜬 액자 안에 그려 나가는 형식이었지만, 액자는 마음에 드는 것을 고를 수 있었습니다.
저는 검은빛 프레임에 금색 장식이 달린 액자를 골랐습니다.
액자는 Ajiro 제작. 제가 고른 것은 아래 중앙의 액자(약 9cm×8cm의 작은 액자).
이전에 ‘모델의 전생을 그린다’는 Ajiro다운 기획을 진행해본 경험은 있으나, 초상화를 그리는 것은 이번이 처음이라고 합니다. ‘어떻게 될지 모른다……’라는 상태로 시작했습니다.
한 손으로 액자를 잡고 붓을 움직이는 Ajiro.
작은 작품이라도 보통 상당히 많은 시간을 들인다고 하며, 첫 시도의 기획이라는 점도 있어 여유를 두어 설정한 ‘2시간’ 틀에서 진행되었습니다.
※결과적으로 준비까지 포함해 딱 2시간이 걸렸습니다.
제작 중에는 이쪽에서 화면이 보이지 않았기에 갤러리 분께 부탁드려 사진을 찍었습니다.
먼저 작품에 대한 희망 사항을 물어보셨지만, 어떻게 해석되더라도 Ajiro의 세계관을 좋아하기에 완전히 그에게 맡기기로 했습니다.
초록, 노랑, 파랑, 빨강, 황토, 분홍, 검정, 갈색의 아크릴 물감이 짜여 있었습니다.
모델 쪽인 저는 특별히 할 일이 없었지만, 그리는 방식에 흥미가 있어 물감의 사용법이나 붓의 운용을 흥미롭게 관찰하게 해 주셨습니다.
아트 이야기를 중심으로, 제작하며 여러 가지 대화를 나누어 주셨습니다.
미대가 아니라 디자인 전문학교에 다녔던 것, 디자인 회사에서 일했던 이야기, Munch와 Rousseau를 좋아한다는 이야기, 지금 살고 있는 집 등, 사이사이 대화를 나누며 진행되었습니다.
30분 경과. 이래도 아직 상당히 초반부.
붓을 세밀하게 움직이거나 마른 티슈로 지지체를 문지르는 등, 작은 작품이라도 많은 공정을 겹쳐 나가고 있는 모습이 이쪽까지 전해져 왔습니다. 섬세하고 정교하며 꼼꼼한 작업을 하는 한편, 화면 전체를 붓이 크게 움직이는 장면도 있어, 하나의 작품이 완성되기까지의 시간을 함께 공유할 수 있었습니다.
오른쪽 작품은 완성까지 한 달이나 걸린 작품이라고 합니다.
“피곤하지 않으세요?”라며 저를 배려해 주시는 일이 몇 차례 있었지만, 지켜보는 것 자체가 즐거운 시간이었기에 눈 깜짝할 사이에 지나갔습니다.
45분 경과. 이후 다시 45분이 걸려, 총 약 90분의 제작 시간이었습니다.
금속제 후크를 달고, 사인과 날짜를 넣어 주시고 완성!
초상화의 설정은 개인전에서 펼쳐지는 세계의 ‘이웃 나라 국왕’의 이미지라고 합니다.
자기 입으로 말하기는 좀 그렇지만, 꽤나 닮아서 깜짝 놀랐습니다.
실물은 수염을 깔끔히 밀고 있지만 “수염의 이미지가 맞았다”라는 이유로 이렇게 완성된 작품입니다. 얼굴이 담백해서 수염을 그리고 싶어진 것인지? 진상은 알 수 없지만, 언제나 그릴 때는 사전에 이미지가 잡혀 있고 그 완성을 향해 나아간다고 합니다.
당일 아침, 자택 아틀리에에서 구웠다는 도자기와 함께 촬영.
어떠신가요? 그려 받은 저 본인은 무척이나 마음에 들었습니다!
질감이 훌륭하고, 왕관의 빨강, 백발, 흰 수염이 액자의 색과 어우러진 최고의 걸작입니다.
실제 화면의 질감은 중후하고 묵직해, 위엄 있는 국왕이 되었습니다.
이날 가장 놀란 것은 90분의 제작 시간 동안 쉬지 않고 계속해서 작품 제작에 임하고 있었다는 점입니다.
놓여 있던 페트병의 차에도 손을 대지 않고 시종일관 붓을 움직이고 있었습니다. 실로 놀라운 집중력이라고 해야 할 것입니다.
한 획 한 획이 무척 정성스러워, 시간을 들여 그려 주셨습니다.
작품 자체도 그렇지만, Ajiro 작품의 등장인물 중 하나가 된 듯한 기분도 들어, 그러한 의미에서도 기쁜 기획이었습니다.
