Statement
Dear Ambivalence
My hometown is Japan, an island country in the east.
In my room, I have been painting the teenagers.
Their gender is not determined, the age is also not decided.
It may be a boy, it may be a girl, it may be a child, or it may be an adult. In the work, they just exist,
just standing there.
It may be in another world, or it may be somewhere else.
For us who are admiring the works, they might have built a bridge to another world.
In Japan, When we are old, even if I became an adult, I still watch cartoons and read comic books.
The streets and alleys are full of cute characters, even now we are still in adolescence, living
comfortably in the warm humidity, still a teenager, and will eventually grow old.
Maybe the young man in the work is also old.
I often think so.
Japan is a collection of "things and sorrows".
I often imagine. We just gradually sinks as the plate moves.
The Japanese grew up surrounded by cute things such as anime and manga.
The immature sensibility of adolescence is still there, but they are becoming adults.
Everyone is very kind, even a small thing can hurt their sensitivity and make them shrink back.
Even if you are an uncle in your 40s, it is quite normal to watch youth movies, so am I, even though
I have become an adult, I cannot escape from the feeling of adolescence.
The slightest friction in society can make me nervous.
Because of this, in order to heal this tension and pressure, I will continue to paint the teenagers.
The result of this is that we still maintain the sensibility of a teenager, but the body gradually grow old.
Not only us, also the teenagers in the works, may also be getting old.
When I am painting, I often feel that the painting myself and the young man in the painting are
connected because of this kind of old age.
That is just a figment of my imagination. But I feel so.
I keep this imagination while painting with a world-weary feeling.
I appreciate to the galleries, staff, and you.
Please looking forward to it.
Yoshiro Kawakami 2022.1.1
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老いゆく少年たちへ
ここは遥か東、極東の島国です。
その一室で少年たちを描き続けています。
彼らに性別は決めていません。年齢だって決めていません。
男でも女でもあるような、子供でも大人でもあるような。
彼らは作品の中で、ただ存在している。ただそこに佇んでいる。
あの世かもしれないし、それとも違うどこかかもしれない。
作品を見ている私たちと、違う世界への橋渡しをするように。
私たちは歳をとりました。
大人になってもアニメは見るし、漫画も読みます。
街は可愛いキャラクターが溢れています。
いまだに思春期の中で、生ぬるい湿気の中で心地よく生きています。
少年のまま、老いています。
もしかしたら、
作品の少年たちだって、老いている。
少年の姿のままで、老いていくのかもしれない。
そう思ったり。
極東は、もののあはれの吹きだまりでした。
プレートと一緒に、沈んでいくだけです。
川上喜朗 2022.1.1