Yae Asano Centennial Exhibition

Art Space Niji

This event has ended.

This exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Yae Asano, a painter from the castle town of Suzuka, Mie Prefecture. Asano taught himself to paint while serving in the military in China and the Philippines, creating a body of work known for its lines scratched into oil paint. His lines achieve an “absolute value,” existing independently in both positive and negative forms freed from all function. On black an white canvases, his worlds of lines seem to push the limits of physical and psychological endurance, sometimes emphasizing freedom in the spirit and movement of the hand, and sometimes exploring the possibilities of the hand’s precision. In his trademark “Stripes” series of Kent paper and pencil works, the presence of white lines scratched freehand into intervals reflects the viewer’s inner world, as if a polished mirror. Asano’s other notable paintings include the beautiful pastel work “Blue Chess” and the witty “Metaphor for an Egg.” He passed away in 1996 at the age of 81.