icco Yoshimura : add a dash of spice to life
Karuizawa Gallery 3
July 23 - September 4, 2022
INTRODUCTION
As the exhibition title “add a dash of spice to life” literally indicates, icco Yoshimura has been getting familiar with cooking and painting since her childhood and she wishes from the bottom of her heart that her art will become a trigger for adding a dash of spice to the life of the viewers.
Icco Yoshimura was born in Kyoto in 1987. Because of her family background that her parents owned a French restaurant, she spent a lot of times in the floor and the kitchen. Waiting for the parent’s working hours to end, she used to sit at the counter sheet and draw illustrations of wine bottles and table wares on the backside of the scrap papers－this routine became her starting point as an artist. “Blissful time of sitting around the table with precious people”－its pricelessness has continued to be the source of her creative inspiration until today.
In this exhibition, the work “supper”, which uses the 10m-long canvas to resemble the dining table and displays there a full-course meal consisting of starter, main dish, dessert, and coffee, will be arranged in the middle of the venue. Beyond the ‘described’ full-course meal, an ‘undescribed' joyful babble of voices from gathered people seems to be appeared at the front. Besides, circa 40 works including the series such as “shepherd's purse” and “pop out” which raise the food loss problem by depicting the domestic animals, as well as “The Water of Life” series which appreciate the value of a glass of water, will be simultaneously exhibited.
I like to draw scenes of dining with good friends, special dishes, and even the ordinary food we eat every day.
For the last few years, the global pandemic has drastically changed our daily lives, and there are probably many people who feel alone. I was one of them.
Even if this happens again, I want to live every day without regrets. I created these works with gratitude for every meal I've enjoyed and the time I spent with loved ones.
We are "formed" by the food we eat every day.
If every meal we eat is delightful, then every day can be happy.
I wish we could all live every day happily and deliciously.
I hope my works will remain as a memory of your joyful times.
2022, supper
The Water of Life
Living creatures cannot live without water.
But we also cannot live with just water alone.
"May the water you partake in every way be delicious water."
That is my wish behind this series of paintings.
2022, supper
PHONON
A painting I made from my relationship with PHONON, a Japanese audio equipment maker.
It expresses the daily life and memories of professionals working in recording studios.
2022, supper
Flower
We often see flowers by the roadside, but they quickly fade from our memories. This series of paintings came from my desire to give such flowers the leading role. I thought about how they can brighten up our mood even if they are in the sidelines in our everyday lives.
2022, supper
One Dish
A series of paintings I made while reminiscing about the take-out and delivery meals I ate by myself during the start of the pandemic. It is filled with my gratitude for the different restaurants that provided my food, which made me realize that meals eaten alone can still be delicious.
2022, supper
ABOUT
July 23 - September 4, 2022
Karuizawa Gallery
Tel: +81 (0)267 46 8691
Fax: +81 (0)267 46 8692
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 17:00
Closed: Monday
Instagram Live | July 28 (Thurs) @ 6pm
*conducted in Japanese