July 24 – August 3, 2021
Invitation only
This exhibition is dedicated to the oil paintings of Honda Takeshi, an artist based in Tōno (Iwate Prefecture).
Honda Takeshi was born 1958 in Yamaguchi Prefecture. He settled in Tōno after having lived in a variety of places throughout Japan, and continues to work and live there since his move in 1987. The works included center on motifs inspired from the everyday life of the artist, simple things that caught his eye such as the flowers blossoming in his garden, or vegetables placed on the wooden veranda of his house.
Honda works without any preparatory drawings, he usually starts by painting directly on the canvas. When concentrating on plants and flowers in his garden, he often sets up a tent outside to closely observe changes in the state of his motifs over the course of time.
Spending that much time in front of his motifs, time becomes an integral aspect of his paintings, pulling in the viewer with the energy encapsulated therein. Shibunkaku’s first exhibition on Honda Takeshi has been held in 2018. Our second exhibition on the artist includes a total of 17 new works, all made in 2020.
“Oil painting I usually create on-site only. From early summer to fall, I spend much time in a tent in the garden. I connect with wind and rain, and whatever plants are out there, through ups and downs. The vitality of the plants amazes me, and I am trying to align my five senses to this experience. In the moment when I paint, I move around colors on the canvas in an almost abstract manner, with results often unpredictable. If I feel something is missing I can easily add it because I have the source of anything right in front of me. Yet it takes me some time to accept a painting as complete.”
Honda Takeshi