2022　　桑原正彦：Masahiko Kuwahara

桑原正彦：Masahiko Kuwahara

桑原正彦：Masahiko Kuwahara　1959-2021　“ Summer Snow ”

2022, Aug. 20 ( Sat. ) ー Sep. 10 ( Sat. )

桑原正彦は1959年に東京で生まれました。様々な職業を経る中で、ほぼ独学で絵画の制作を始めた様です。なので美術大学の経歴はありません。描きたいものと、どの様に描く・表現するかを明確に見据え、画家として生きて行く事を決めた男なのです。桑原の絵画に出てくる稚拙でポップな図像は、その表面的な雰囲気とは正反対のシリアスで社会的な桑原の思考の賜物なのです。それは高度成長期の日本における国土の開発と大量生産・大量消費がもたらす繁栄と歓喜、それと表裏一体となった公害問題や環境破壊に見舞われた日本の姿であり、桑原はそのことを現代日本の「風景画」として描いていたのです。桑原が描く一見可愛い女性や生き物は、現代日本が生み出した諸問題の、いわばアバターと言えるものなのです。また稚拙な描き方は、美術大学、美術教育を受けていない彼があえて実行した、素人っぽさ・自由さの表現であり、桑原の絵画の魅力と言えます。彼は生涯その表現方法を洗練させ続けたのです。そんな桑原は、1995年のAKI-EX ギャラリーでの「石油化学の夢」で画家としての本格的なスタートを切リました。そしてその翌年、伝説となった平塚市美術館の「TOKYO POP」展に選ばれることになります。当画廊の桑原との出会いも「石油化学の夢」展を観たことから始まりました。

今回の「Summer Snow」展は、生前最後の当画廊での個展「dreamy star pochette」が企画の始まりとなります。「dreamy star pochette」で並べられたモノトーンの白い作品達、それはまさしく彼、桑原正彦が最後に見た風景ではないのか、その白い世界をもう一度展示することで桑原の創作の意味を再考する一歩としたいと考えました。真夏に広がるモノトーンの絵画たち、それはまさに「Summer  Snow」、真夏に降り積もる雪の如く静謐で夢のようでありながら、強靭で純粋な桑原の意志の塊としてみてゆきたいと思っています。生前桑原は申しておりました。社会的な問題を根底にして描いてはいるが、善悪を声高に表明するのではないのだと。それをしたいのであればアクティビストとして行動した方が良いのだと。桑原個人は、自らの目と思考で確信している同時進行の日本の姿を、画家として、ただ描き残して行きたいのだと。桑原は日本の洋画家も含めた美術の歴史の中で、一人の画家としていることを夢見ていたのです。残念ですがこの度の個展では、「dreamy star pochette」展の100％の再現は叶いませんので、過去の作品からピックアップし展示構成いたします。今一度皆様には、桑原の一貫した世界観をご覧いただきたいと思っております。

Masahiko Kuwahara was born in Tokyo in 1959. He seems to have started painting almost entirely on his own, while working in various occupations. He is a man who has decided to live his life as a painter with a clear vision of what he wants to paint and how he wants to paint and express it. The poor, pop-like iconography in Kuwahara's paintings is the result of Kuwahara's serious, social thinking, which is the opposite of the superficial atmosphere of his work. Kuwahara's "landscape paintings" of contemporary Japan depict the prosperity and joy brought about by the development of the country and mass production and mass consumption during Japan's period of rapid economic growth, as well as the pollution problems and environmental destruction that were inextricably linked to this prosperity and joy. The seemingly cute women and creatures that Kuwahara depicts are avatars, so to speak, of the various problems that modern Japan has created. Kuwahara's poor painting style is an expression of his amateurishness and freedom, which he dared to express without having attended an art college or received an art education, and can be said to be the charm of his paintings. He continued to refine his mode of expression throughout his life. Kuwahara made a full-fledged start as a painter with "Petrochemical Dreams" at AKI-EX Gallery in 1995. The following year, he was selected for the legendary "TOKYO POP" exhibition at the Hiratsuka Museum of Art. Our first encounter with Kuwahara also began when we saw the "Petrochemical Dreams" exhibition.

This "Summer Snow" exhibition is a re-creation of "dreamy star pochette," his last solo exhibition at the gallery before his death. The monotone white works displayed at "dreamy star pochette," the last solo exhibition at the gallery before his death, were indeed the last view that Masahiko Kuwahara saw. By exhibiting this white world once again, we hoped to take a step forward in reconsidering the meaning of Kuwahara's creations. The monotone paintings spreading in midsummer are exactly like "Summer Snow," as tranquil and dreamlike as the snow falling in midsummer, but I would like to see them as a mass of Kuwahara's strong and pure will. Before his death, Kuwahara said. He said that although he depicted social issues as the basis of his work, he did not express right and wrong vociferously. As an artist, Kuwahara simply wants to leave behind a picture of Japan as it is today, which he is convinced of through his own eyes and thoughts. Kuwahara dreamed of being a painter in the history of art, including Western-style painters in Japan. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reproduce the "dreamy star pochette" exhibition in its entirety in this solo exhibition, so we have selected works from the past to be exhibited. Once again, we would like to invite you all to view Kuwahara's consistent worldview.