Shintaro Ohata. The place where it all begins

The Erarta Museum presents the first exhibition in Russia by the Japanese artist Shintaro Ohata, who creates hand-made living paintings, combining papier-mâché sculptures and painting.

Shintaro Ohata's works go beyond the canvas. The Hiroshima-based artist is famous for his hand-made living paintings, in which he combines traditional 3D and 2D objects. By combining plastic sculptures made of papier-mâché with a painted canvas, the author engages the viewer in a visual game that is born through the synthesis of arts.
The exhibition at the Erarta Museum brings together twenty-three works created by the artist over ten years. Every piece that resembles a shot from a film is painstakingly done: most of the details of the sculptural part of the compositions are made of papier-mâché by hand, without the use of computer technology. Volumetric figures, forming a semantic and compositional unity with the canvas, give the author creative freedom - not limited only by the plane of the picture, he can express almost any ideas.

Studying art on his own, the artist did not immediately come to his unique technique: “For a long time I was looking for a means that would allow me to achieve greater realism, but at the same time would not change my painting style. The source of inspiration was drawn backdrops from the world of theater and cinema. They gave me the idea of sculptures protruding beyond the surface of paintings, ”he explains.

The cinematic look in Shintaro Ohata's work is largely achieved through light. The artist reliably conveys any light that surrounds a person in everyday life, be it the rays of the rising and setting sun or the lights of a big city. “The aim of my work is to show light in everyday life by capturing it on canvas,” he emphasizes. Expressive light accents "highlight" the drama that is invariably present in everyday life.

Collecting the little things of everyday life - rain, wind blowing, watching a candle flame or the moment of parting - Shintaro Ohata invites visitors to the exhibition in Erarta to stop and listen to their own feelings. The moment captured by the author turns into eternity and can serve as the beginning of a journey to the origins, to “the place where everything begins” - to the world of childhood. Addressing the viewer in a universal language, Ohata invites you to completely surrender to the experience of every sensation, be it loneliness, surprise, admiration or light sadness.

Visitors to Erarta will be able to get acquainted with the work of Shintaro Ohata not only at the artist's exhibition - the work "Swing against the sunset", made in the assembly technique, is now presented in the permanent exhibition of the museum.