About the works

Objects depicted in Daisuke Fukunaga’s painting are something too ordinary for us to pay attention everyday – places or objects we have forgotten, such as a shabby vacant lot, a dark basement of the construction building without wiring, old cleaning tools like mops, tires, and wastes.  With his “representationalism” approach, these objects seem to throw off its functional meanings attached to them and wriggle like animals, as if they had emotions and personalities.
Personified objects against the dramatic backgrounds in Fukunaga’s paintings evoke strongly and theatrically, emphasized by being depicted on large canvases. The senses of endless depth and presence as materials attract viewers.
Art critic Noi Sawaragi explained the association between Fukunaga’s paintings and the Mono-ha from the 1970’s as follows:

“Fukunaga’s paintings show an unexpected connection to the Mono-ha (School of things). Of course, this does not mean that they belong to the Mono-ha in the original meaning of the term (although there is really no such a thing), but in a quite expanded sense.”  “What I want to point out is that the mop is simply there. It is strange, surprising, and uncanny. To use Heidegger’s phraseology, it reveals the ground of being that underlies the mop as an existing entity. This irregular situation presents an encounter with things that is prior to any discussion of physical things as just they are.” (Noi Sawaragi, From Fried Tofu in a Kitchen to a Used Mop, Daisuke Fukunaga exhibition catalogue, Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2008)
Art critic Midori Matsui also remarked on Fukunaga’s paintings as follows:

“Fukunaga’s painting first attracts the spectators with the physical presence of his objects and their convulsive impression that invites personification, and then makes the spectators think of the difficulty of painting consistently in the world that has lost the teleological scenario. His expression thus inadvertently speaks for the common problem of his contemporary painters, while ensuring his own sincere commitment to the act of painting.” (Midori Matsui,“VOCA 2009” Exhibition Catalogue, The Ueno Royal Museum, 2009)

Fiction and reality dissolve into each other in Fukunaga’s paintings, and there emerge dense and idiosyncratic senses. They are embraced by his paintings, with awe and gaze towards the existence of these objects that Fukunaga describes, “ I do not know why but I’m obsessive to look at”.

Artist’s comment for this exhibition

The exhibition will feature about 10 new paintings. Fukunaga describes new works and the title of this exhibition as follows:
” It is unexplainable but sometimes I see mops on the corner, abandoned tires on roads, wheels displayed in show windows, and motorbike seats high-lightened under the street lights as indescribable sculptures. These objects are sculpted and changed everyday by being used under the various environments of locations, passage of the time, and amounts of light. I capture my astonishment I experience from encountering the traces of these changes, and document the emotions I find there and senses of feelings onto paintings. With eyes of a stray cat wondering aimlessly and staring into something.”
This will be Fukunaga’s fifth solo exhibition at Tomio Koyama Gallery after two years since the last solo exhibition at Tomio Koyama Gallery Kyoto in 2013.