Shinjiro Okamoto, Song Dong and Wang Shuye are participating in Aichi Triennale 2013.
A self-taught artist, Okamoto has been exhibiting in independent shows since the mid-1950s, debuting as a flag-bearer for avant-garde painting that rejected hitherto mainstream painting expression. Okamoto's style is characterized by a combination of spare lines bearing no trace of brushstroke, and simple, vibrant coloring, and he has consistently and industriously turned out paintings that are sharply critical of society and culture and include a series of unique characters that feature repeatedly in his work. His 2011 solo show "The Big Bomb at 25:00" at the Shoto Museum of Art in Tokyo had a war theme. Especially noteworthy was the massive 《 Rolling Cherry Blossoms: The Big Bomb for Tokyo 》 depicting the devastating 1945 air raids over Tokyo that he witnessed as a boy, and which he had made a conscious decision not to portray until prompted to do so by the 9/11 attacks on New York in 2001. This canvas with the same motifs persistently repeated simultaneously contains various pieces of text, names of events etc. from history. Two experiences coexist in the viewer: that of being mesmerized by the painted motifs and their detail, and the intellectual experience of reading the text, akin to the experience of reading.
Wang Shuye is showing a collaboration work with other artists, 'Earth Attack 1.'
'Earth Attack 1' consists of 15 panels, together 2.27m by 27.27m. A joint production that starts with an anchor, it was conceived in 2002 by 10 artists with the added input of 10 critics. It is an enormous project, that will ultimately have 11 parts (1 to 10 installed on walls, and the 11th on the floor). The terrorist attacks on New York on 11 September 2001 provided the inspiration. Okamoto Shinjiro came up with the initial proposal, meeting with approval from several others who then joined the project. As they all traded ideas, things went the usual way of any joint project, with endless discord and contradictions. Though all artists started on rough sketches in 2003, it wasn't until September 2007 that a final version was decided on. They then set about creating the artwork, and 'Earth Attack 1' was completed until February 2013. Though an anti-war statement in pictures, it is all drawn in monochrome so it creates a sense of being read and understood, like a written document.
Song Dong, one of representative contemporary artists in China, has announced the works actively since late 1990s. In this time, Song Dong created a bridge, running water, a huge stone, plants and a mountain using old furnitures or a dilapidated house, and made a traditional garden. The garden presents a restrained microcosm, but this work connects two thoughts, 'appropriative landscape' and tenancy. The former is based on traditional concept of Chinese landscape design while the latter is DIY idea for city space filling with aesthetic appeal and functionality. Over 10years, the artist has expressed how the poor and underdeveloped countries are improving the quality of life as expanding the right for the space and aesthetic quality with a concept 'wisdom of the poor.'
Courtesy of Aichi Triennale
