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Hiroya Kurata "Summer Hours"
The Mass
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Artists
Hiroya Kurata
The Mass presents ‘Summer Hours’, a solo exhibition by Hiroya Kurata, taking place from August 27th to September 25th, 2022. The exhibition will be Kurata’s first exhibition in Japan for three years, presenting 18 new works on canvas.
Kurata’s paintings depict familiar scenes from everyday life, providing vignettes of fleeting moments permeated in pure light that capture “what can only be depicted now”, thereby communicating his inner feelings that cannot be expressed exclusively in words.
As the title of the exhibition “Summer Hours” suggests, the subject matter of Kurata’s paintings convey an atmospheric impression of the season, with landscapes bathed in bright and dazzling sunshine, dappled light streaming through the trees, frolicking children, reflections of the clear skies on the surface of water, and the light of a full moon softly illuminating the night sky. The figures in Kurata’s paintings are deliberately simplified, depicted in a free-form manner that is charmingly distorted, and with a sense of familiarity that invites us into the humorous world spread across his canvases.
After the global disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, like many people, Kurata began to spend more time with his family and in nature and began to draw and create works based on his own photographs and experiences from his daily surroundings. At first glance, his often cartoon-like compositions and the richly coloured style of his works appear to be painted with watercolours or crayons. However, closer inspection reveals Kurata’s use of oil paint and through the careful strokes of his brush, he is able to project various scenes from his daily life in New York onto the canvas, as if he were keeping a diary.
For the past 23 years, Kurata has been living in New York and has been working in a painting restoration studio alongside his own practice since 2007, acquiring various painting techniques along his 15 year career in restoration. For Kurata, New York offers a convenient location in which to work, and his unique position has allowed him to be a member of the international community of artists and art world figures that reside there, as well as witness firsthand the changes in the American art scene. Kurata’s free and individual style is evidence of his flexible approach to painting, unrestricted by a fixed concept or context, thereby giving him the freedom to paint the subjects that he wants to paint. Though his painting style has changed significantly over the past few years, there is a consistency in his power of observation and the unique interpretation of his surroundings, as well as an innate charm and rich sensibility that lies in opposition to mass media and popular culture, creating a continuous thread throughout his work.
Kurata’s paintings depict familiar scenes from everyday life, providing vignettes of fleeting moments permeated in pure light that capture “what can only be depicted now”, thereby communicating his inner feelings that cannot be expressed exclusively in words.
As the title of the exhibition “Summer Hours” suggests, the subject matter of Kurata’s paintings convey an atmospheric impression of the season, with landscapes bathed in bright and dazzling sunshine, dappled light streaming through the trees, frolicking children, reflections of the clear skies on the surface of water, and the light of a full moon softly illuminating the night sky. The figures in Kurata’s paintings are deliberately simplified, depicted in a free-form manner that is charmingly distorted, and with a sense of familiarity that invites us into the humorous world spread across his canvases.
After the global disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, like many people, Kurata began to spend more time with his family and in nature and began to draw and create works based on his own photographs and experiences from his daily surroundings. At first glance, his often cartoon-like compositions and the richly coloured style of his works appear to be painted with watercolours or crayons. However, closer inspection reveals Kurata’s use of oil paint and through the careful strokes of his brush, he is able to project various scenes from his daily life in New York onto the canvas, as if he were keeping a diary.
For the past 23 years, Kurata has been living in New York and has been working in a painting restoration studio alongside his own practice since 2007, acquiring various painting techniques along his 15 year career in restoration. For Kurata, New York offers a convenient location in which to work, and his unique position has allowed him to be a member of the international community of artists and art world figures that reside there, as well as witness firsthand the changes in the American art scene. Kurata’s free and individual style is evidence of his flexible approach to painting, unrestricted by a fixed concept or context, thereby giving him the freedom to paint the subjects that he wants to paint. Though his painting style has changed significantly over the past few years, there is a consistency in his power of observation and the unique interpretation of his surroundings, as well as an innate charm and rich sensibility that lies in opposition to mass media and popular culture, creating a continuous thread throughout his work.
Schedule | Aug 27 (Sat) 2022-Sep 25 (Sun) 2022 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Venue | The Mass http://themass.jp/en/  | ||||
| Location | 5-11-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||
| Access | 3 minute walk from exit 7 at Meiji-jingumae Station on Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines. 5 minute walk from exit A1 at Omotesando Station on the Ginza, Chiyoda and Hanzomon lines. 7 minute walk from the East exit of Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3406-0188 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it  |
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