Yuka Tsuruno Gallery is pleased to present Attaining Shape, a solo exhibition by Yu Yasuda, from August 25 to October 6, 2018. In his first solo exhibition at the gallery in about four years, he will present new paintings whose refinement was achieved through deep reflections on the fleeting phenomena and moments.

　Yasuda is known for the fluid pictorial space characterized by unique touches and numerous layers of colors mingling each other. The everyday scenes and figurative landscape prominent in his earlier works were gradually replaced by abstraction, leading to the establishment of the singular style of the artist with shimmering mass of colors that nevertheless evokes unspecified landscape. This pictorial world, which has been described as mental or dream-like landscape, emerges from the dialogue between the contingency and necessity created by paints and the idiosyncratic sensibility of the artist, instead of being depictions of specific images. Especially in recent years, Yasuda is exploring the process where he starts his production from an exploration into the forms of colors and tones, and works toward the moment of discovery where the picture becomes a piece.

　　Gazing
　　Only at changing sky
　　Only at flowing water and spreading ripples
　　Only at flickering fire
　　Only at shimmering light
　　Only at floating something
　　Only at what inside my eyes when they are closed
　　Only at something from the past about to fade
　　Only at something beautiful
　　Only at something ugly

　While preparing this exhibition, Yasuda said; “no matter how much the world changes, human is a kind of creature that unconsciously is drawn by something that evokes ever-changing flow of time, and wants to submit to it”. The title of this exhibition Attaining Shape indicates the process where expression and form are being obtained. At the same time, it also indicates the process of change itself which includes the state before a matter becomes something, the process of its change, and the state after the change, which the artist describes as “before and after the form”.

　This is expressed in the painterly interest of the artist that continues to this day, where he captures the constantly flowing moments of movement in time and space, as well as the diverse and fluctuating mental states triggered by these moments. Especially the images that suggest constant movement of water, which is a consistent feature since his early works, overlaps with the unique colors and brushstrokes of the artist, and continues to increase its importance as a metaphor for the flowing time and space. This exhibition showcases a group of works borne from the perceptive exploration of the artist into the momentary existence of phenomena in constant flows as well as how attempts at capturing these phenomena inevitably lead to a plunge back into the same flows.

Artist Profile

Born in 1982, Kagawa. Received MA in oil painting from Musashino Art University in 2007. His works are shown in exhibitions including VOCA 2008 (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, 2008), Art in an Office (Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, 2011), The Exhibition of the Collection (Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, 2012). He has been widen his appeal by creating a public work in Toranomon Hills recently.

Exhibition Outline

Yu Yasuda, Attaining Shape
Date: August 25 – October 6, 2018　* extended until November 10
Opening hours: Tue – Thu, Sat, 11am – 6pm; Fri 11am – 8pm
* Closed on Sunday, Monday, and National holidays
Venue: Yuka Tsuruno Gallery
1-33-10-3F Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Japan