Saturday, March 25th from 6-9pm Mindy Solomon is pleased to present the Opening Reception for Foreign Relations, the second solo exhibition of longtime gallery artist Osamu Kobayashi. Comprised of primarily large-scale paintings, Kobayashi continues to investigate the possibilities of painting with outsized brushes and singular movements of glorious pigment against canvas. Kobayashi has continued to pursue his commitment to conquering the medium of oil paint. In his newest body of work, there appears an almost spiritual reckoning with life and subsequently the images. Bright transparent layers of color curve and swirl within each other like a mantra circling in on itself. The exhibition is on view from March 25—April 22, 2023.
Kobayashi writes: “Broad intuitive brushstrokes gracefully circle and undulate across the smooth gessoed plane. Raking light brings these grand gestures to life, contrasting with the flat surface these forms dance around. There’s precision to the often colorful and hard-edge imagery that is created. They recall the simple and clean line work of anime, graphic design, and color field painting. While the compositions remain reductive and abstract, references to the body and landscape are regular themes and can often be one and the same. A wavy stroke is viewed as flowing long hair, and at the same time can be seen as depicting a psychedelic hill or mountain.”