Thinkspace’s September exhibition ‘The Gilded Age‘ featuring new work from artists Aaron Horkey, Esao Andrews, and Joao Ruas received a ten page spread in the latest Juxtapoz. Now available on newsstands and online, make sure to pick up a issue of the September Juxtapoz to see an incredible preview of the work that will be at Thinkspace this fall. A great piece in which all three artists were interviewed.
An interview with artist Yosuke Ueno for his upcoming show ‘Beautiful Noise’ at Thinkspace Gallery. The opening reception for ‘Beautiful Nosie’ is Saturday, May 23, and is on view till June 13.
SH: Can you share with us something that scares you and something that makes you really happy?
YU: Recently I recognized that the happiest thing is simple like, living with delicious meals, and good sleep in a comfortable bed. Since I found that, I can always feel happy whether it is rain or shine. What always scare me are people with no imagination.
SH: Favorite food after a long day or night of painting?
YU: Everything my wife cooks for me.
SH: What is your creative process? How long does it take to finish an average painting?
YU: Whatever and whenever I create, time which I spent for a work is whole my life. So if I finish a painting today, I can say it takes 37 years and 11month to do this piece.
SH: Are you a cat or dog person?
YU: I like both. I always try not to belong any “groups.”
SH: Your work is extremely colorful. On average how many different paint colors do you use?
YU: I’ve never counted how many paint colors I use when I paint. However, I am always really concern with where to put colors, because color layout is one of most important things in my artworks. The better the colors go together, the more colorful the work looks. For example, it is sometimes said that girls I depict have rainbow color hairs, but I use only four colors to paint those colorful hair girls.
SH: Do you have a favorite paint brand and brush right now?
YU: The brand is not a matter for me. Any brushes improve with use. For me, price of tools are not important at all.
SH: Your characters’ hair are often colored like a rainbow and your work features repeating words and acronyms throughout. Please explain the symbolic significance of these for those not already familiar with your work and the vast visual keys that each piece contain.
YU: I love science and it is a good inspiration for me, because phenomenon of science happens to everyone equally regardless of race, religion, or sex. I often put an acronym ATGC in my works. The ATGC means four bases of DNA: Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine. In my opinion, the ATGC is a symbol of peace because all animate being shares the molecular elements. I think we are not usually aware of what important for our life because of that’s simplicity. I use some motifs repeatedly to remind those simple but important things.*
SH: What is the main inspiration behind your upcoming show, Beautiful Noise?
YU:I can say my hobby is to think. So I’m always thinking about things all the time while I am awake. However, those that I always think about are not enough to be called philosophy, and I call those as noise in my mind. I think my duty is to output those noises into my artworks. Beautiful Noise, it’s a title for works come up with noises in my mind.
SH: How many cups of coffee or tea do you drink a day?
YU: The first thing I do in the morning is to fill my Thermos with coffee by milling the beans by myself.
SH: When did you know / decide to be a professional artist?
YU: When I was seven. The reason was that my friends enjoyed cartoons I drew.
SH: What advice would you give a new artist who looks up to you?
YU: I have no idea now…let me think about that until next time.
SH: Any other toy / figure projects you can share that are coming up on the horizon?
YU: Well, I can’t announce it yet, but one character shown in this show would come up with a figure in the Christmas season. Stay tuned!
SH: Star Wars or Star Trek?
YU: I can’t discuss Star Wars without watching the triptych that is going to be released hereafter, and neither can I discuss Star Trek because there’re too much Star Trek series and I haven’t watched those enough to talk something about it. Maybe I will be like 60 years old when I can speak something about it.
*For more information on the meaning behind the symbols used in Yosuke’s work, please visit his website .
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My wife and I headed out to Riverside this past weekend to catch up with Brian Viveros and his wife Jenie. We got a chance to check out his studio and we snapped some shots of the works that are coming together for his upcoming show with Matthew Bone, Southern, that opens this coming May out in NYC at Paul Booth’s Last Rites Gallery.
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The new works are looking so tight, he’s really coming into his own in a major fashion. The emotion captured in each new work is spot on. We are extremely honored to be working with Brian and can’t wait to host his debut Los Angeles solo show next fall, but more on that soon enough. Until then, we’ll be headed back out in a few months to his studio to get a wrap up of this new series of works before they are shipped out to NYC. So watch for that.
We’ll be doing a more proper interview with Brian in the next month or so, but below are some choice quotes that we’re included in a recent feature that ran in Truce magazine out of Europe.
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“Things that inspire me are everday happenings, finds and observations of life. Like a crazy f*cking helmet from a swap meet that you found and you say to yourself ‘what a great element for a painting’. It’s like you are constantly collecting visual information to translate and bring to life. Sometimes, words can also make for a good painting – or people you see on the streets smoking their cigarettes at the bus stop. It all feeds the addiction and inspires you to want to do and create more and more. These are all pieces to the puzzle that are building up in my head.”
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“Painting these girls feeds my addiction. Like a vampire out for blood or my bad smoking habit that I just can’t seem to quit. The female form takes on many shapes and sizes and I dig on changing and distorting it just a bit, which excites me and it reminds me that nothing is perfect.”
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“The Smoking Army began back in 2000. I hadn’t yet really honed in on a particular signature style but I knew that painting sexy girls smoking cigarettes is what I wanted to do. Since then, the Army has grown and taken over my studio. They hold me hostage at night and I like it. They whisper in my head and say ‘create more, bring me to life’. Like a mad f*cking scientist in his laboratory I’m always trying to come up with new ideas and elements to decorate these smoking temptresses.”
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“I don’t know why all these girls are smoking. I have tried to get them to quit, but they refuse to wear the patch or chew that special gum which is supposed to help you to quit. Just kidding, the smokin’ thing is a piece of myself. I enjoy smoking and drinking a lot so I just thought it would be a cool element to add to this Army of Smoking Girls.”.JPG)
“I always found smoking sexy as a kid – like in the silent black and white films, when these women would be smoking on the screen. They were these rebellious bad ass chicks that didn’t give a f*ck.”
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