Kenjiro Okazaki
Kenjiro Okazaki, TOPICA PICTUS / Rue de Turenne, 2021
exhibition view, galerie frank elbaz, Paris
photo: Claire Dorn
From March to June 2020, Okazaki sheltered himself in his studio, producing over 150 works during this period of intense concentration. The TOPICA PICTUS series pushes the concept of the Zero Thumbnail series to a new level. The unprecedented motifs, titles, and bold compositions of these new works are full of surprises and discoveries to stimulate us to think afresh from various perspectives.
The works presented in the exhibition are acrylics on canvas in distinctive artist frames. Each is accompanied by an explanatory leaflet: a dedicated essay describing a topic, a feeling, or a framework of thought, shown alongside visuals of artworks the artist believes were created from the same problematic.
Kenjiro Okazaki, 行水のうきな / Sudden Shower, gust of wind / ながるるままにまかせてをみんT, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
16,3 x 20,3 x 2,9 cm (6 3/8 x 8 x 1 1/8 in.)
photo: Shu Nakagawa
Kenjiro Okazaki, 煉瓦工場、椰子の木陰/Tortosa workers, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
20,3 x 16,1 x 3 cm (8 x 6 3/8 x 1 1/8 in.)
photo: Shu Nakagawa
Kenjiro Okazaki, T.A.O.I.N.S.H.R.D.L / COME HEAR AT ONCE, 2019
Acrylic on paper. Set of 20. 78 x 54 cm (30 3/4 x 21 1/4 in.) each
exhibition view, galerie frank elbaz, Paris
photo: Claire Dorn
This series of drawings was created by Kenjiro Okazaki using a T.T.T. Bot (Turning Table Tripod Robot) developed by the artist in collaboration with robotics engineer Katsuyoshi Tsujita. The T.T.T. Bot is a rotating table tripod robot that allows the artist to re-live a painting process by simply touching the board with a pinpoint, without moving his hand as the board itself moves.
First, Okazaki draws an invisible picture on the board with his finger, and records its exact movements, which the board then reverses and reproduces. The artist’s brush strokes, speed, angle, and pressure are precisely recorded, and all are completely reversed and recreated as the movement of the board. Then, Okazaki himself touches the board with his brush and generates the image. The artist can feel the minute movements of this moving board by just only touching it at a single point. The slight reaction that inevitably occurs at this point creates the touch of the brush. As long as the paintbrush does not touch the board, it only moves and does not produce any visual image. These drawings are a collaboration between the artist and his past self, incarnated by the moving drawing board robot. Through this technique a painter can collaborate with past masters, but also with his past self.
Kenjiro Okazaki, TOPICA PICTUS たけばし, 2021
Exhibition views, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
photo: Shu Nakagawa
Kenjiro Okazaki, Retrospective Strata, 2020
Exhibition views, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Tokyo