Midori Sato’s motifs are boutiques, shops, beautiful clothes and shoes she sees in magazines, closets and shoes racks. Being in front of her painting of a life-sized closet, or an installation of scattered small paintings and other objects, the viewer feels captured in the sense of irresistible joy that these works present. A closer look reveals how a variety of rough brushstrokes and delicate touches, and the unevenly painted areas weave rich colors.
 
In the series that describes carpets she worked on during the artist-in-residence in Paris from 2010 to the spring of 2011 (”Carpet –Paris I-”, ”Carpet –Paris 2-”), she exhibits the cotton canvas directly on the wall without stretchers. In these paintings, she paints the patterns of carpets, which is a similar material as fabric. The imagery is not the exact reproduction of carpets, but it is created by a play between different textures. Tangible feeling on the surface of the fabric evokes viewing that is almost physical.

Sato has spoken of her inspiration: she wants to remember and preserve the impulse, pleasure and uplift upon encountering beautiful objects in daily life or on travels, objects and crafts created with care, or interesting different cultures. By doing so, she says she can bring herself to the positive spirit. The impulse and joy that the artist experiences are painted and passed on to the viewer through her work. This is quite primary, and timeless quality of the painting that her work embraces.

Concept:
In this exhibition, the space will be turned into “a room with a closet”, presenting paintings of a large closet and carpets, decorative patters of tiles, laces and embroidery that the artist found in Paris, as well as paintings of the artist’s favorite objects. Also included are the small paintings in the frames that she found in flea markets.

Artist Biography:
Midori Sato was born in 1984 in Aichi Prefecture. She graduated from Oil Painting Course, School of Art, Nagoya University of Arts in 2008, and studied at Ecole nationale des beaux arts de Dijion, France as an exchange student in 2008. She received M.F.A from Graduate School of Tokyo Zokei University in 2010. Her major solo exhibitions include TWS-Emerging 140 ”Blissful moments” (Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo, Tokyo, 2010), TWS-Emerging Plus”Point Marie” (Tokyo Wonder Site Art Café kurage, 2011) and “Project N 48”, which is on view until March 25, 2012 at Tokyo Opera City Arty Gallery, Tokyo. She exhibited at Art Award Tokyo Matunouchi 2008 and 2010, and received the Tomio Koyama Prize in 2010. Her other group exhibitions include “Tokyo Wonder Wall 2009” (Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2009) and “Mont Blanc Young Artist Patronage in Japan” (Mont Blanc Ginza, Tokyo, 2008). This is her fist solo exhibition with Tomio Koyama Gallery.