A series inspired by Klimt's works
EDO places hard lines and introspective words on the pure colors of YUMEKA. EDO and YUMEKA are a unit that leaves an impression with their cool and tense works.
The title of this exhibition is taken from Gustav Klimt's late 19th century work "NUDA VERITAS". Inspired by the words of Friedrich von Schiller in the work, "I pursue beauty uncompromisingly for those who understand the truth, even if they are a minority," the exhibition features 21 new pieces. In addition, two bags created in collaboration with the bag brand SUSIESVELT will also be on display.
The light of life in painting
EDO was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1978. His father was a painter, so he was surrounded by art from an early age, interacting with painters and dancers and using art supplies. However, in his teens, he distanced himself from art, partly because he was rebelling against his parents. He went on to become a designer, and distinguished himself in the fields of graphics and fashion.
YUMEKA was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1977. She grew up in a household where creative activities were a part of daily life, with her grandmother being a kimono seamstress, her mother skilled in dressmaking and handicrafts, and her father enjoying painting as a hobby. She began studying Japanese painting in her teens. After winning an award at a public exhibition in 1998, she began to seriously pursue painting, and in 2009 she held her first solo exhibition at the Okazaki City Museum of Art. It was here that she met EDO.
When they met, they were both at rock bottom in their lives. EDO was stuck in a deadlock at work and was in poor health, making life difficult. YUMEKA, who had the glorious opportunity to hold her first solo exhibition, was also suffering from illness at the time, and her mother suggested that her first solo exhibition be a way to encourage her to live.
EDO was in such despair that YUMEKA recalls that his eyes were a matte black. He found his purpose in life when he casually completed a painting inspired by the work of Kyosai Kawanabe. He says that painting saved his life. At that time, he happened to come across YUMEKA's solo exhibition.
YUMEKA's first solo exhibition was attended by about 2000 people in less than a week, and many visitors said that they felt energized by her works, which made her realize the power of painting. She realized that the paintings she had been drawing only for herself could bring happiness and hope to others and bring daily life to them, and she began to pursue painting.
"I was wandering down a dark road in life, and a light shone on me" (YUMEKA), and the raw emotion that was triggered by painting. The death drive that was inseparably attached to it. "Eros and Thanatos. The hope that lies between them" drove them to express themselves through painting.
At the time, the two only exchanged a few words, and their connection was not even that of a single point. They each had the impression that the other was "a ghost-like person who had lost all life." However, the two, who were not even sure of their true nature, encountered each other many times in the places they each visited over the next month. This chance encounter began their creative activities as a unit.
"In my creations, I place great importance on coincidences and inevitabilities such as 'I saw this today.' That's where it all began." (EDO)
YUMEKA's style, which reflects chance and unconscious actions as seen in her painting technique of adding color without preliminary sketches, can be said to have been decided upon when the two met.
Painting as a fundamental act
As the title NUDAVERITAS suggests, the theme of this exhibition is the true essence of things. This intention can be seen in the use of soft colors such as beige and pink as the base color, and in the use of fewer layers of color than in previous works.
In this work, a voluptuous leg in high heels peeking out from the skirt of a dress, high heels resembling sharp knives, and lipstick are randomly drawn. These figurative paintings allow us to sense the inherent beauty of humanity in the precariousness of how fear can be transformed into beauty.
Edo has often painted high heels since long ago. He remembers his mother having a shoe peddler help him put on high heels at home when he was a child. He also remembers seeing a dance performance by Amagatsu Ushio of Sankai Juku with his father. These were engraved in his memory as fear, and he says that he experienced this as an experience that eventually "transformed into beauty."
Painted in a style reminiscent of 1950s posters, the work suggests that the inseparability of fear and beauty, Eros and Thanatos, lurks in the everyday.
On the other hand, in contrast to representational paintings, abstract paintings, with their black brushstrokes reminiscent of avant-garde calligraphy, exude a sense of vast depth, and clearly show traces of the fundamental human actions of "painting," "drawing lines," and "writing letters."
"I love fishing because of my father's influence, and I feel energy from interacting with the natural world, the flow of trees and clouds, the colors of the sky, and other everyday things that change, and I try to express that energy in a constant, repetitive process." (YUMEKA)
"YUMEKA's energy is so strong that I feel like I'm creating a vessel to hold her emotions. However, I sometimes wonder if I'm narrowing her worldview with knowledge and information." (EDO)
Klimt left behind many allegorical works depicting women in his early years. While they were a celebration of feminine beauty, they were also depicted as eternally mysterious beings that men could not approach, and it is said that they demonstrate the beauty that comes from fear.
EDO confesses the conflict he feels when giving narrative and order to YUMEKA's paintings, which capture the small beauty of everyday life with pure sensitivity. It may be that he is afraid of his partner YUMEKA, but he senses a hint of beauty in it. It can be said that YUMEKA is EDO's nuda veritas, and he learns that purity and conflict are what give rise to artistry and vitality.
A beautiful world for everyone
The bags of Susie Svelte, the collaboration partner, feature an original painting and quote a passage from Baudelaire's poem "L'invitation au voyage (Invitation to a Journey)," completing the bag as an art piece.
This poem is a love poem inviting the beloved woman on a journey, imagining a beautiful world enveloped in sensual and gentle light at the destination. It can be read as an invitation to a world of beauty.
In this day and age when all values are changing in a landslide, we live in a state of anxiety. People who feel anxiety and fear live their daily lives and create things. Incompatible values such as right and wrong, virtue and vice are inseparable, and that is exactly why beauty resides in them. Everyone can reach the world of beauty. EDO and YUMEKA's paintings are painted as a wish for this naked truth.
