Walking into the lobby of Taoyuan County Government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau, people can’t help but fix their eyes on a one-story tall poster for an oil painting exhibition on the theme of Taiwan scenery on the huge wall. Entering the exhibition hall on the third floor, visitors can see a series of oil paintings depicting Taiwan scenery with free-flowing strokes and rich layers of color, full of expression. One may think that these might be the works of a senior Taiwanese artist, but they are in fact paintings by 63-year-old Japanese artist Koso Sato, who has been living in Taiwan for more than a decade. Sato, who has held several widely acclaimed exhibitions in Japan, studied art in France. His mixture of the styles of various renowned European artists crosses beyond boundaries and expresses a global outlook. On the invitation of Taoyuan County’s Cultural Affairs Bureau Director-General Benjamin Tchuang-mo Tchang, the “2012 Koso Sato Oil Painting Exhibition” opened last Thursday and will run through March 18. In addition to Sato’s early expressionist works, a new series of Neo-Cubist and Abstract Expressionist works are also on display. At the exhibition, visitors get a glimpse of how Sato’s style has changed over time.
Sato held his first, well received, Taiwan exhibition in 1989. At the opening ceremony last Friday, Sato impressed visitors with his friendliness and modesty. A good number of senior Taiwanese artists, such as Lai Chuan-chien, Chan Chin-chuan, Tsai Ru-kung, He Chao-chu, Tseng Chang-sheng, and He Cheng-kuang showed up for the ceremony, indicating that Sato has made many good friends in Taiwan’s art circles. Pan Fan, associate professor at Fo Guang University’s Graduate Institute of Art Science, said last Friday that Sato has a subtle and nuanced understanding of Taiwan that could be described as the capturing essence of Taiwanese and Japanese art. Curator Chen Chao-hsien said that Sato’s fondness for Taiwan is because of the people here. Sato thinks that Japanese people are polite but reserved, while Taiwanese naturally show their genuine human warmth, which has become one of Sato’s sources of artistic inspiration.
During his early period, prior to 2000, Sato focused on a realist series of Taiwanese scenery, which he painted either at the location or in a studio. Many Taiwanese people accompanied him during the course of his creative process. Some of his early works include (from photo 1 to 5) Small Town, A Red House, A Temple, Jioufen, and A Dock.
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Since 2000, Sato’s painting style has gradually shifted to Abstractionism or Semi-Realism. He has incorporated bright and lyrical hues of Fauvism along with lines of Expressionism to create a Cubist aesthetic in his works. At the same time, his works have showed a tendency toward metaphysical art and Surrealism. Sato’s characteristic intuitional painting expressing his subjective emotions was praised by 86-year-old Taiwanese senior artist Lai Chuan-chien last Friday, when Lai said that, “I just cannot master Sato’s free and unrestrained style.”
Photographer Huang Dong-ming said that his favorite among Sato’s paintings is Searching (photo 6), which merges Abstractionism and Cubism. Although Sato uses many colors and lines, the painting is not messy; both the bright and dark parts of the work attract people’s attention, and the layers of color resemble a puzzle of mental images. The work Streets (photo 7), the painting selected to feature on the exhibition poster, has the feeling of a post-modernist work, showing that order and chaos happen simultaneously and that technology and humanity mix together although boundaries remain distinct. In Vexing Dusk (photo 8), Sato uses large chunks of bright and warm colors enclosed by heavy colors and repetitive layers of circular lines. In A Stroll in the Dream (photo 9), Sato uses high contrast colors to give the work both lightness and weight as well as an intense musicality and sense of rhythm. This work invites associations with Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, who often linked his abstract works to musical composition. Lastly, it is worth mentioning one more work, Square Japan (photo 10), a painting full of deeper meaning. The work expresses Sato’s feelings and mood. He used a square frame to enclose chunks of purple and gold, representing Japan’s imperial family. Maybe he wants to say that the imperial family is the origin of his nation’s history, but it is also a burden that he has been pondering for a long time.
Speaking Japanese, Sato told the Taipei Times — through the Chinese translation of 86-year-old artist Chan Chin-chuan — that he usually listens to music, including jazz, classical and other music, while he paints. But, he pointed out, even though he needs music to begin with, he hears no sound once he focuses on his painting even if the music is still playing. Sato’s unique musical style of painting and his structure, lines, colors and strokes are an instinctual expression of his Eastern sensibilities. Each painting reveals Sato’s emotions and the changes in his works in recent years could be seen as the epitome or essence of 20th century art history. Sato said last Friday that he will continue to paint in Taiwan and enjoy the genuine warmth of the Taiwanese.(Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times)
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
一進入桃園縣政府文化局大廳,民眾很難不將目光停留在大型牆面上有一層樓高的醒目海報,內容是描繪台灣風情為主軸的油畫展覽。上到三樓展覽室,即見筆觸線條自由、色彩層次豐富且充滿情感描繪台灣在地風光的油畫,心想這大概是某位台灣畫壇前輩的作品,但其實是一位在台旅居十多年並熱愛台灣文化的六十三歲日本藝術家佐藤公聰。佐藤曾獲日本多項大展佳績,並曾留法深造,融合歐洲名家特長,也培養出跨越地域性的世界格局。這次應桃園縣政府文化局局長張壯謀之邀,「二○一二佐藤公聰油畫個展」已於上週四揭開序幕,展期至十八日。除了展出佐藤早期表現主義作品外,還有佐藤一系列新立體與抽象風格新作,民眾可一窺佐藤創作風格的蛻變。
佐藤一九八九年受邀來台展覽時,即獲熱烈迴響。上週五的開幕茶會,佐藤給人的第一印象是親和與謙虛。許多台灣美術界前輩,例如賴傳鑑、詹錦川、蔡汝恭、何肇衢、曾長生、何政廣等,皆為座上賓,可見佐藤與台灣美術界的好交情。佛光大學藝術研究所副教授潘(示番)上週五表示,佐藤對台灣有種微妙的情感,或許可以說是台灣與日本之間藝術的結晶。而名冠藝術館總監陳昭賢則表示,佐藤對台灣的情感,主要來自於台灣的「人」。他表示,佐藤認為日本人雖看起來很有禮貌,但稍嫌拘謹,而台灣人則自然流露濃濃的人情味,也是佐藤挖掘繪畫養分之一。
佐藤二○○○年之前的早期創作,偏重於一系列台灣風情寫實作品創作,不論是現場取景還是畫室作畫,過程中都有台灣民眾的陪同。作品包含《小鎮》、《紅色的房子》、《廟宇》、《船塢》、《九份》等(見圖一至圖五)。
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
二○○○年後,佐藤畫風轉化為抽象或部份具象風格,融合野獸派鮮明而抒情的色彩與表現主義的線條,來塑造立體感。同時,在其創作中也表現出略帶形而上畫派與超現實主義的傾向。佐藤直覺作畫來抒發個人情感的特質,讓現場八十六歲台灣美術家賴傳鑑於上週五讚嘆說:「我學不到的就是像佐藤的那種自由與瀟灑。」
攝影家黃東明在導覽時表示最愛佐藤的《摸索》(圖六),結合抽象畫派與立體畫派的特性,雖運用很多顏色與線條,但不雜亂,明暗皆吸引目光,且色塊層疊,就像一幅心裡意象的拼圖。而桃園縣政府文化局大廳牆上巨幅的畫作,即是佐藤的《街道》(圖七),秩序與混亂同時發生,科技感與人性交錯,界線卻井然分明,頗有後現代的趣味。《煩躁的黃昏》(圖八)雖有大片明亮的暖色系,卻包圍著重複塗抹的沈重色彩與層層重疊的圈狀線條。《夢中的散步》(圖九)色彩運用反差極大,既輕快又濃重,也表現出強烈的音樂性與節奏感,這也讓人連想到俄羅斯畫家瓦西里.康丁斯基,他將自己的抽象作品比擬為作曲一般。最後,值得一提《Square Japan》(圖十)這幅涵意深遠的作品,抒發佐藤自我感受和主觀情緒,策展人張昭賢表示,紫色加上金色是日本皇室的代表色,因此佐藤可能要表達此歷史淵源,但也是其長期思索被框住的包袱。
感謝八十六歲美術家詹錦川的中文翻譯,佐藤上週五以日文向《台北時報》表示,其作畫時一定要聽音樂,舉凡爵士樂、古典音樂等都聽,伴隨樂音讓他進入作畫情緒,而一旦投入繪畫中,播放中的音樂也就不再聽到了。佐藤具音樂色彩的個人風格與其畫面結構、線條、顏色、筆觸等,都傳達一種充滿直覺的東方情趣。每幅畫皆流露佐籐的情感,其近年來的作品演變,幾乎可說是二十世紀藝術史的縮影與精華。佐藤上週五表示未來將繼續在台灣創作,繼續感受台灣人的真性情。(台北時報記者林亞蒂)
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Photos: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
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