JONAS WOOD AND SHIO KUSAKA: BLACKWELDER

About

Gagosian Hong Kong is pleased to present recent work by Jonas Wood and Shio Kusaka. This will be the first exhibition of the artists’ work in Hong Kong.

Wood and Kusaka draw from each other's work as painter and potter to probe the tensions between representation and expression; precision and chance; influences from art history and life. Kusaka’s porcelain vessels play muse to Wood’s drawn and painted interiors, while conversely their idiosyncratic forms and glazes owe something to his impulsive line. They draw from personal memory and their shared existence as a married couple, his half-objective, half-fictional Los Angeles landscapes and still lifes set in their studio on Blackwelder Street; and her painted patterns that allude to their young daughter’s fascination with dinosaurs.

Wood’s paintings and works on paper display overlapping textures and disorienting compressions of space; the intimate settings invoke the work of forebears such as Matisse and Hockney, yet his distorted verdant rooms possess an affectless cut-out appearance that is all his own. In drawings, collages, watercolors, and paintings, outlines of pots and vases frame landscape and interior imagery. Drawn and painted vessels set against neutral backgrounds contain a sprawling green golf course; a coral reef with exotic fish; a lush garden; a painter’s studio, all scenes that end abruptly at the parameters of the object. Progressions can be traced between exploratory works on paper and final paintings: inFish Pot and Geranium (2008), Wood incorporates a photograph of swimming koi as the pattern of one vessel; a second is crudely drawn in pencil. He transposes the objects onto canvas in Blue Pot Still Life (2014), in which the highly decorated pots clash with a patterned tablecloth, stacked rolls of masking tape, and multicolored desert plants, a persistent living motif.

Kusaka’s recent vessels take traditions of Japanese stoneware and porcelain as a foundation for historical fusions inspired by Iron Age ceramics, Minimalist repetitions, and the silt pottery of Ancient Egypt. These quotations merge with the subtle dimples, pinches, and other surface impressions of her haptic approach, as well as eccentric touches such as long handles in the shape of brontosauri, or blue streaks suggestive of rainfall. Several works are glazed with imprecise grids—Kusaka softens hard geometries by allowing her lines to waver and overlap—while on tall glazed vessels colors ebb from dark green to white. Wood and Kusaka share influences and imagery but embark on autonomous explorations of their respective media; exhibited together, these symbiotic works reveal the autobiographical roots and layers of cross-pollination that inspire their creation.

A fully illustrated catalogue produced with KARMA, New York and including a new text by Chris Wiley is forthcoming.

Jonas Wood was born in Boston in 1977, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Selected solo exhibitions include Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2010); “Jonas Wood: Clippings,” Lever House, New York (2013–14); “Jonas Wood: Shelf Still Life,” High Line Art (2014); and LAXART Facade (2014).

Shio Kusaka was born in Japan in 1972, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work was included in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2014), and has been exhibited throughout the world.

For further information please contact the gallery athongkong@gagosian.com or at +852.2151.0555. All images are subject to copyright. Gallery approval must be granted prior to reproduction.

Please join the conversation with Gagosian Gallery on Twitter (@GagosianAsia), Facebook (@GagosianGallery), Google+ (@+Gagosian), Instagram (@gagosiangallery), and Tumblr (@GagosianGallery) via the hashtags #JonasWood  #ShioKusaka  #Blackwelder  #GagosianHongKong.

開幕酒會: 1月15日（星期四）晚間6時到8時

香港高古軒畫廊欣然呈獻Jonas Wood與Shio Kusaka首個香港作品展，展出兩位藝術家的精彩近作。

畫家Jonas Wood與陶藝家Shio Kusaka從各自的作品取材，探索再現與表達、精準與偶然之間的張力，以及藝術史與生命的各種影響力。Wood描繪的室內景觀從Kusaka的陶器汲取靈感，而同時後者則以獨特的形狀及釉彩呼應Wood率性自然的線條。他們的作品亦以夫婦二人之間的回憶及共同生活的經歷為靈感，例如他半真實半虛構的洛杉磯風景畫和以Blackwelder Street工作室為場景的靜物畫，以及她根據女兒對恐龍的熱愛構思而成的彩繪圖案。

Wood將不同的質感重疊於油畫及紙本上，並壓縮畫中的空間。緊密的構圖令人想起馬蒂斯(Matisse)及霍克尼(Hockney)等藝術大師的作品，但他筆下綠意盎然的獨特房間，卻有截圖的感覺，展現Wood自成一派的風格。他在素描、拼貼畫、水彩及油畫中，以花盆及花瓶的輪廓勾勒風景及室內的景物。彩繪花瓶與中性色調的背景形成鮮明對比，瓶上繪有綠草如茵的高爾夫球場、稀有魚類穿梭的珊瑚礁、蒼翠茂密的花園及畫家工作室等場景，但所有場景延伸至花瓶邊緣便會突然消失。從Jonas Wood的草稿與成品中，可見其風格的演變。在《Fish Pot and Geranium》 (2008)中，Jonas Wood把游弋的鯉魚照片變成其中一個陶器的圖案，另一幅則以鉛筆草草畫成。而在《Blue Pot Still Life》(2014年)中，他把多件物件融入畫中，在印花檯布上擺放精緻的花盆、多卷膠紙及色彩繽紛、象徵頑強生命力的沙漠植物。

Kusaka近期創作的陶器承襲日本石器及瓷器的傳統，破天荒地融合鐵器時代的陶瓷工藝、簡約主義的重複手法及古埃及的泥陶器具風格，並結合細緻的凹凸紋理及其他表面效果，配以猶如雷龍的長柄或雨水般的藍色花紋，透現無窮新意。Kusaka以釉彩在部分作品添上不規模的格紋，縱橫交錯的線條為幾何圖案注入柔美感覺，而高身上釉陶器的顏色則從深綠色漸變至白色，清新悅目。Jonas Wood及Shio Kusaka從相同的風潮及意象尋找靈感，卻各自以其擅長的媒介進行藝術探索。是次展覽將同時展出兩位藝術家的作品，帶領觀賞者窺探他們的創作靈感來源及彼此之間的創意交流。

由紐約KARMA編製、由Chris Wiley撰文的附圖畫冊將於稍後出版。

Jonas Wood1977生於波士頓，於洛杉磯定居及從事藝術創作。以往舉行的個展包括洛杉磯漢默美術館(Hammer Museum)(2010年)；紐約Lever House的「Jonas Wood: Clippings」(2013–14)；High Line Art的「Jonas Wood: Shelf Still Life」 (2014)；以及LAXART Facade (2014)。

Shio Kusaka1972生於日本，於洛杉磯定居及從事藝術創作。她的作品曾於紐約惠特尼美國藝術博物館「2014年惠特尼雙年展」(2014) 及世界各地展出。

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