Shinpei Kusanagi: A view from a platform
Past exhibition
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“Standing on the platform which is anchored, motionless like a ship in the middle of ‘the white river with clear pure water (清澄白河)’ flowing through the space where everyone is just passing by, I wish to keep looking closely at a landscape which peeps out occasionally from the gap in the fog called reality, and which should be ‘here, right now’ that leads to someone else.”
– Shinpei Kusanagi, Kiyosumi and its environs -
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Altman Siegel is pleased to present A view from a platform, an exhibition of new paintings by Shinpei Kusanagi. Employing gestural brushstrokes and washes of color on raw, untreated canvas, Kusanagi’s work captures natural ephemerality through observant abstraction.
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Inspired by the transience of train platforms, a space dedicated solely to movement, Kusanagi’s resplendent paintings fluctuate between states of calm and energy. Sheer washes of color intermingle and overlap, creating mystifying shades. Brushstrokes of varying intensities and sharpness coalesce on the painting’s surface. Reminiscent of water rippling with the tide or grass swaying in the wind, these expressive marks evoke landscapes without referencing specific times or places.
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Kusanagi begins painting without a plan, instead allowing movements and gestures to accumulate with time naturally. This practice encourages spontaneity, forming layered, sedimentary surfaces that hover and recede into deep space. This dynamic nature creates subtle tension, reflecting the robust, fleeting energy of our wider environment and the memories it elicits.
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Altman Siegel: What do you hope people will take away from looking at your paintings?
Shinpei Kusanagi: There is no specific message from me. My paintings are like mirrors. It is like a switch to dig out something from it, a view, a feeling, or a memory that you have inside of you. Mirrors and switches have no intention or intent. -
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AS: What do you think is the most misunderstood aspect of your art?SK: I think many abstract painters will say the same thing: I don't consider my paintings to be abstract.
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AS: What narrative or representational elements in your paintings might viewers miss, if any?SK: What the person misses has no meaning, and what he sees may or may not have meaning. Besides, the day may eventually come when you can see what you are missing now and you cannot see what you can see now.
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AS: How does the imagery in your paintings develop? Do you use any source imagery like photos or drawings, or do the works originate from memory, imagination, and/or dreams?SK: There is no pre-drafting or planning involved in my work. It is an impromptu process, a conversation with the canvas. Therefore, even while I am painting, I do not know where the painting will end up or how it will be finished. Sometimes the conversation goes smoothly, and sometimes it gets so tangled that we end up in a fistfight. But in the end, we always find a landing point and settle on something that fits. I always find this strange and very interesting.
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2024/03/01 PM 3:53
