Galeria LOS OFICIOS	Exhibition view
Exhibition view	Exhibition view
Exhibition view	Exhibition view
Art work of Nelson Dominguez	Art work of Nelson Dominguez
Art work of Takashi Yukawa	Art work of Takashi Yukawa
Installation art of Hiraku Sato	Installation art of Hiraku Sato
Exhibition view	Exhibition view
Art work of Shora Kato(Acrylic on canvas, Lambda print work)	Installation art with mural and video projection, Shora kato
Photos by Shora Kato

Spiritually Samurai, Act Aesthetically ~ Dynamic Wave from Japan

As an alternative means of contemporary art, Japan has always been stimulating the so called main stream art scenes. At Havana, 2009, such a wave reaches finally to the other side of the hemisphere. Director of Promo-Arte Gallery, Kumiko Furusawa brings three Japanese artists from Tokyo to disseminate Japan’s recent accomplishments. These three artists, derived from profound Japanese cultural tradition, have been advancing their own camino to fulfill the contemporary art world. Ambitions, witnesses and cultural consciousnesses that were possessed by old Samurais are still active among these artists.

Hiraku Sato (born in 1960) has been engaging to calligraphy since his youth. To explore the essence of character writings, he has been investigating the oldest forms of letters which were many times inscribed on animal bones, shells and precious stones, which represent the primitive (therefore the purest) confrontation between nature and man. He hears the substantial cries of different atoms to be encountered when he strokes on paper. The atoms of ink, brush and paper crying, anguishing, and resisting when they are compelled to transform themselves during the creation of new forms. Sato’s unique and dynamic calligraphy was adopted in the movie “Zatou-Ichi”, directed by Takeshi Kitano and acquired wider public notice.

Takashi Yukawa (born in 1961) had been in Pietra Santa, Italy to acquire stone sculpturing techniques after completed his Master’s degree at Tama University of Fine Arts. Unbelievable figurative combination of colored terracotta and wooden body lessens their physical presences and acquire certain spirituality of metaphysical nature, yet the works dominate the substantial space. Energy generated from the molding terracotta (plus) and the energy generated from the shaving wood (minus) are well balanced on the pole of materialistic life in search of ideal tranquility.

Shora Kato(born in 1983) is a recent Master’s graduate of Tama University of Fine Arts. He sometimes refer his name as Xola, a Mayan God of Flowers and Spring, to emphasize his respects to Latin American cultures especially the mural movements of Mexico. He has been an organizing member of Rinpa-Eshidan (the name derived from a famous Japanese school of decorative paintings of 18th century), and their YouTube films have been acquired more than one million hits during the last nine months. Unlike to many of Graffiti works seen on the streets, his large scale paintings collaborating with music, aiming multimedia representations are serious and communicative and consequently touching to the problems of two-dimensional art.

(written by Kaoru Kato, Art Critic and Professor of University of Kanagawa)