Yuichiro Shibata

There is one painting that incorporates the white-on-white style. It features two large black spirals on a white background, which meet at the point of infinity, from which emanates another spiral – this time white in color and still against the white background, Philosophically speaking, the artist seems to be asking the question: “When one reaches the point of infinity, it is not possible that we merely have to travel to another dimension?”

In another work one sees how the artist lets the canvas show through for cloud-like effects, and how skillfully he combines bright hues with a black spiral for diorama-like effects. Here the sense of landscape is imminent, the sense one is viewing a scene from outside one’s front or inner door is made extremely apparent. A large part of this success can be attributed to the fact that the artist, who uses almost exclusively acrylic paints, does not restrict himself to primary colors, but colors of such intensity that the subtleties of applying the spirals and combining the colors become all the more riveting.

One could interpret the spirals Shibata paints as representing everything from elements like the wind to the activity associated with emerging from an embryo. They could also be interpreted as sound waves, an idea that given his background and tastes might not be so far off the mark. His mother plays the ancient Japanese instrument, the Koto, and his sister is a classical pianist. By his own admission, he says he loves jazz and that its improvisatory techniques appeal to him. But the point of Shibata’s spirals is not so much a question of discovering their inspiration as it is to be galvanized into a curiosity about our own lives, into asking questions, about the future and maybe even assessing the possibility that alien life might exist.

Stefan Janis: Regular contributor to Town & Country Magazine

BIOGRAPHY

1945 Born in Tokyo
1964 Enrolls in Nippon University
1967 Leaves Nippon University and moves to New York, where he presently resides.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1967 De Mena Gallery, New York
1968 De Mena Gallery, New York
1969 New York Hilton Gallery, New York
1971 Greer Gallery, New York
1975 Peter Berman Gallery, New York
1975 Artist and Sculpture Center in New York
1981 Sergio Tosi Gallery, New York
1982 L'isola Gallery, Rome
1985 Gallery FACE, Tokyo
STRIPED HOUSE Museum, Tokyo
1988 Gallery FACE, Tokyo
1991 Fujii Modern, Tokyo
1995 Gallery B.A.I. , New York
1996 Gallery B.A.I. , Barcelona, Spain

COMMISSIONS
1990 Tomam Resort, Hokaido Japan