Yoichi Umetsu, who has just wrapped up his solo exhibition “Pollinator” at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art.
This show is composed entirely of new drawings produced after the closing of “Pollinator.”
Yoichi Umetsu “New Romancer”
The show was mounted on short notice after the originally scheduled exhibition — a group show of California-based artists selected by Barry McGee — had to be postponed due to shipping delays. Umetsu completed twenty drawings in just three days and managed to open the show on time.
Installation view
Comment by Yoichi Umetsu — “In my practice, I have often consciously referenced art history in an explicit way. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, I have started to face my work in a more immediate, physical manner. Lately I hardly write any texts. But that does not mean I have simply returned to a naive kind of making. Nor is what I do painting as form, or painting as information. I recall once describing my drawings as ‘the privatization of painting,’ but that may have been a mistake. When they work, drawings can hold both a theoretical structure and a poetic space at once. These new works are also a detailed report on my past few days, yet they feel almost eternal to me.”
Installation viewYoichi Umetsu, Lightseed, 2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink on paperYoichi Umetsu, The Other Side, 2019-2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink on paperInstallation viewInstallation viewYoichi Umetsu, Resonance, 2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink on paperYoichi Umetsu, Lament, 2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink on paperYoichi Umetsu, Nurturing Horns, 2018-2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink on paperYoichi Umetsu, Gathering, 2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, ink, and enamel on paperInstallation view — center: Yoichi Umetsu, Small Kingdom, 2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, ink, and enamel on paperYoichi Umetsu, Night Begins, 2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink on paperYoichi Umetsu, Light, 2022, watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink on paper (Collection of the artist)
Twenty drawings that hardly feel as if they were made in such a short span.
Umetsu’s drawings pack in a wealth of information and fine detail when viewed up close, while offering an entirely different reading from a distance — deeply satisfying works.
He has clearly been immersed in ceramics of late, but this exhibition reminded me once again of the strength of his paintings.
Yoichi Umetsu “New Romancer”
刚刚在Watari Museum of Contemporary Art结束个展”Pollinator”的Yoichi Umetsu。
本次展览完全由”Pollinator”闭幕之后创作的全新素描作品构成。
Watari Museum of Contemporary Art에서의 개인전 “Pollinator”를 막 마친 Yoichi Umetsu.
본 전시는 “Pollinator” 종료 후에 제작된 신작 드로잉만으로 구성된 전시입니다.
Yoichi Umetsu “New Romancer”
본 전시는 원래 예정되어 있던 “Barry McGee가 선정한 캘리포니아 작가들에 의한 그룹전”이 배송 지연으로 인해 부득이 연기된 가운데 급히 개최된 것입니다. Umetsu는 놀랍게도 사흘 만에 20점의 드로잉을 완성해 개막에 성공했습니다.
전시 전경
Yoichi Umetsu의 코멘트 — “나는 작업에서 명확하게 미술사를 의식하고 참조하는 경우가 많았다. 코로나 이후에는 보다 즉물적으로, 신체적으로 작품과 마주하게 되었다. 최근에는 텍스트를 쓰는 일을 거의 하지 않는다. 그러나 그것은 단순히 소박한 의미에서의 제작으로 회귀했다는 뜻은 아니다. 또한 형식으로서의 회화도, 정보로서의 회화도 아니다. 예전에 나는 드로잉 작업을 ‘회화의 사유지화’라고 말한 기억이 있는데, 그것은 틀렸을지도 모른다. 드로잉은 잘만 되면 이론적인 구조와 시적인 공간을 동시에 지닐 수 있다. 이번 작품들은 지난 며칠간의 나의 상세한 리포트이기도 하지만, 마치 영원한 것처럼 느껴진다.”
단기간에 태어난 작품이라고는 믿기 어려운 20점의 드로잉이었습니다.
Umetsu의 드로잉은 가까이서 보면 정보량이 많고 세밀한 디테일이 가득한 반면, 멀리서 보면 또 다른 모습이 발견되는 매우 음미할 만한 작품입니다.
최근 도예에 몰두하고 있는 모습이 전해져 오지만, 회화 작품의 매력을 새삼 느낀 전시였습니다.