Masakatsu Kondo

“Element”

THE CLUB is pleased to present “Element”, a solo exhibition by Masakatsu Kondo.

Kondo has been based in London since graduating from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1993.He has participated in group exhibitions with Peter Doig and Chris Ofili at the Victoria Miro Gallery and has exhibited in Japan at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery.

In this exhibition, he will be presenting his new works on canvas.

“The production of my paintings is mainly a process of artificially interpreting the natural world. The memories of hundreds of millions of years dormant in the universe and nature are shown to us by mathematics, by chemistry, by philosophy, and by art. Nature is the fundamental environment for us; it exists as an absolute subject forming the keystone of our thoughts.

These recent works were painted with landscapes as the medium, and the idea of depicting the light cast upon them. If one breaks down light to its molecular level it is possible to depict, for example, the light (molecules) glittering on the water’s surface as abstract spectra. This leads to an interpretation that is scientific and simultaneously abstract. Moreover, it links in with the primitive memory of my experiences in the midst of nature during my childhood. And the experiences I accumulated over the days and the all-pervasive information around me is verbalized, becomes abstract, and is then once more revealed through the substance of paintings.

In contemporary society the daily lives of people is being dramatically changed by the new environment arising from the evolution of computing, artificial intelligence, the Internet and so on. While this is on one hand creating a valuable global culture, are we not also paying the price of having to bear many social problems? It is with this in mind that I intend to pursue my search for the importance inherent in nature, the fundamental element showing us our starting point” – Masakatsu Kondo, 2021

この度THE CLUBでは、近藤正勝の個展「Element」を開催いたします。 近藤は1993年にスレイド美術学校を卒業して以来、ロンドンを拠点に活動している。ヴィクトリア・ミロ・ギャラリーでピーター・ドイグ、クリス・オフィリとのグループ展に参加し、日本では東京オペラシティ アートギャラリーで展覧会を開催している。 今回の展覧会では、キャンバスを使った新作を発表します。