Hiro Sugiyama’s solo exhibition will be held at Speedy Gallery L.A!

We will have an opening reception on June 3 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. If you are in Los Angeles, please come to the reception.

Exhibition Outline
Exhibition Name : Monochrome Colors
Artist : Hiro Sugiyama

Period: June 3 – July 8, 2023
Location : Speedy Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave.
B5B.
Santa Monica, CA, 90404
https://www.instagram.com/speedygallery_la/
@speedygallery_la/

Artist Comments :.
Where is the line between figuration and abstraction?

In this series of black paintings, the artist silhouettes motifs from existing paintings and simplifies them to increase the level of abstraction. Furthermore, by eliminating all of the colors from the painting and painting it in black, the artist experiments to raise the level of abstraction to another level. If the painting exists in a corner of the memory, such as a Picasso or Van Gogh painting, even if the abstraction level is raised by two steps, the brain will start imagining the colors that should have existed in the original painting, and the brain will rotate at full speed to make the work with the increased abstraction level closer to the original painting. However, if you do not know the original work, the abstraction level of the painting will only go up.

At the end of the 1990s, I presented a piece painted in silhouette. I took the outline of the motif and painted the inside of it with black paint on a flat solid surface. By filling in with black paint, the information drawn on the inside disappears. In this series of black paintings, which he began making in 2020, he has taken a painting that had once been highly abstract and turned it back into a figurative painting. Rather than reapplying the original colors to the black painted areas, he reproduced the original paintings by creating extreme unevenness on the surface through the touch of the brush and the heaping up of the paint. The unevenness created by the black paint gave the painting an expression of light and shadow. The viewer responded to the expression of light and shadow and began to sense invisible colors. Then, abstraction was brought back to figuration. In this way, I enjoy creating paintings that move back and forth between figuration and abstraction.

Profile
1997
He was the first to start creating digital works in the pioneer days of the Internet. (Formed the artist unit “Enlightenment”)

Year 2000
His digital portraits (of Brad Pitt, Thom Yorke (Reddio Hett), and Karl Lagerfeld) were highly acclaimed by Jeffrey Deitch in New York, and a solo exhibition was arranged at “Deitch Project NY” (cancelled due to 911). (The exhibition was canceled due to 911.)

2001
Participated in the exhibition “Superflat” curated by Takashi Murakami at MOCA, LA.
He exhibited huge portraits of Ayrton Senna and Karen Carpenter. It subsequently toured the world in museums in London, the Bronx, Shanghai, and other cities.

2010s
Hiro Sugiyama began to work energetically again on his analog paintings.

Year 2020
He published his work [Drawing leads to another dimension], which contains 1600 works.

Year 2021
The “Black Paint Series,” which eliminates the colors of famous paintings and silhouettes the motifs, has been a hit in Asia. This will be the first time that Speedy Gallery will open its doors to the public in the United States.

Monochrome Colors by Hiro Sugiyama
Opening Reception: June 3 (Sat) 4-7pm

—————————-
Title : Monochrome Colors
Artist: Hiro Sugiyama
Term : June 3-July 8, 2023
Venue: Speedy Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave. B5B. Santa Monica, CA, 90404
https://www.instagram.com/speedygallery_la/
@speedygallery_la/

concept
Where does the boundary between representation and abstraction lie?

This series of black paintings takes motifs from existing artworks and transforms them into silhouettes, simplifying them to further increase their level of abstraction. By removing all colors and painting solely in black, I am conducting an experiment to take it one step further in terms of abstraction. Similar to Picasso’s and Van Gogh’s paintings, where the image remains in the corner of one’s memory, even with two levels of increased abstraction, the Similar to Picasso’s and Van Gogh’s paintings, where the image remains in the corner of one’s memory, even with two levels of increased abstraction, the brain works tirelessly to bridge the gap and imagine the colors that should have been there in the original artwork. However, if one is not familiar with the original work, the abstraction of the painting continues to increase.

At the end of the 1990s, I presented works created with silhouettes. I took the outlines of the motifs and filled the inside with flat black paint, gradually eliminating the information within. At that time, my interest was solely focused on pushing from representation to abstraction. However, with this current series of black paintings that I started creating in 2020, I performed an act of bringing the artwork back from abstraction to representation. Instead of reapplying the original colors over the blackened parts, I reproduced the original image by creating extreme relief on the canvas through I reproduced the original image by creating extreme relief on the canvas through brushstrokes and the thickness of the paint. The relief made with black paint gave the canvas expression through light and shadow. Viewers responded to the expressions of light and shadow and began to perceive unseen colors. Thus, the level of abstraction was brought back to representation. In this way, I enjoy the process of creating art by moving back and forth between representation and abstraction.

Profile
Hiro Sugiyama, an artist who established the group ‘Enlightenment’ during the early stages of the Internet in 1997, embarked on digital artwork production, later gaining recognition for his digitally created portraits of figures like Brad Pitt, Thom Yorke (Radiohead), and Karl Lagerfeld, which caught the attention of Jeffrey Deitch in New York, resulting in a canceled solo exhibition, ‘Deitch Project NY’ due to the 9/11 incident.

Hiro Sugiyama participated in Takashi Murakami’s curated exhibition “Superflat” at MOCA in Los Angeles in 2001, unveiling monumental portrait artworks of Ayrton Senna and Karen Carpenter that subsequently embarked on a world tour across London, the Bronx, Shanghai, and more . .

During the 2010s, Hiro Sugiyama refocused his artistic pursuits on analog painting. In 2020, he published the extensive art book “Drawing Leads to Another Dimension,” encompassing a collection of 1,600 artworks.
Today, his ‘Black Paint Series,’ featuring the elimination of colors and the depiction of motifs in silhouettes, gained significant popularity in Asia and is now being exhibited for the first time in the United States at the Speedy Gallery.

Immerse yourself in his spellbinding creations, each brushstroke telling
a tale of boundless creativity and artistic evolution.