ARTPLAT(formerly Art Platform Tokyo) proudly presents ‘Picture of Addition, Picture of Subtraction’ featuring two artists, Sochi
Yamaguchi and Takashi Katayama.

Increasing number of young artists are exploring the new forms of painting through the innovative usage of matière such as applying thick layers of paints, adding new matière, and molding the solidified paint. Yamaguchi and Katayama are also of the generation of artists who show a strong interest in matière. However, they do not modify the matière itself; rather, they dissect and investigate painting with their own unique methods and techniques of expression.

When creating colors, or when painting over the motif to modify the image, the artist applies layers of paint on the canvas. Soichi Yamaguchi has been interested in this layering of paint. His works frequently depict the sideways view of undulating layering of paint. The motifs that dance rhythmically on the canvas are the traces of the artist’s hand movements, snapshots of his brushstrokes.

The large work on the third floor is a powerful work that focuses on the overlapping and juxtaposition of colors in pointillism, a technique typified by Seurat. Knowing his strong interest in scientific analysis, it is astonishing to learn this complex composition was based merely on his rough sketches – it is a sole product of his imagination and superior skill set without the help of computer.

Takashi Katayama uses a painting method that is quite intricate. First, the panel is coated with lacquer, and then water-based acrylic gouache is repeatedly applied. He then scrapes or partially wipes off the gouache with a needlepoint pen which hemade it himself from a square piece of wood, and finally finishes it with a clear, transparent coating. Using this technique which allows him to create neutrality in his work, he wants to depict the contrast and fusion of the artificial and the natural
world without expressing his own sense of value. As a matter of fact, he almost never adds color or leaves brushstrokes to eliminate any emotions or interferences from his paintings.

Today, in this world filled with emotionally charged news reports, Katayama says he wants to paint “phenomena” that eliminate any traces of the creative process or the time spent. Viewers are momentarily bewildered by the stone slab-like panels that deny the material and temporal evidence. However, as they look carefully into the picture, they will observe the issues facing the world today; they may even find a sense of humor within his meticulous work.

Please visit our website and watch the video to learn more about Yamaguchi, who depicts overlapping layers, and Katayama, who excludes his own feelings and values, in their own respective work.