 – On view through October 30, 2021 in the Corey Helford Gallery at 571 South Anderson Street, “Monochrome, Apples and Animals” are works by Japanese oil…){kind=link}
LOS ANGELES, CA (PNAN) – On view through October 30, 2021 in the Corey Helford Gallery at 571 South Anderson Street, “Monochrome, Apples and Animals” are works by Japanese oil painter Mayuka Yamamoto.
As one of Japan’s leading second-generation contemporary artists, Yamamoto’s works depict children sporting animal features and enigmatic expressions. The artist’s oil paintings often appear reticent and introspective.
The emotions of the child characters in Yamamoto’s works, or “animal boys” as she often calls them, are meant to be a mystery to the viewer. They exude an aura of otherworldly calm and demeanor that belie their true emotional and psychological states, juxtaposed against subtle settings painted in soft, muted color tones.
The oil paintings portray children in animal suits and reveal their inner world. Like a protective armor in response to their emotions and psychological state, they seem to instinctively hide behind a second skin in the form of animal costumes or some other defensive physical, animalistic features.
About
Born in 1964 in Okayama, Japan, Mayuka Yamamoto received her master’s degree at Tokyo’s Masashino Art University in 1990 and joined the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for Artist to continue her studies in London until 1999. Her works have been shown in several solo shows held by Japan’s Gallery Tsubaki and her 2007 solo show, titled Deer Boy and Other infants, was hosted by Canvas International Arts gallery in Amsterdam. She also participated in group shows at the Korean International Art Fair (2004–2007) and Young Japanese Painting (2007, Amsterdam).