MINO WATABE
Watabe was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1989. She graduated with a master’s degree in Oil Painting from the Department of Painting at Tama Art University in 2016. She depicts vivid colors and bold deformation of plants and landscapes. Organic, supposedly natural objects are arranged as if they are artificially produced. This results a strong composition of geometrically abstract painting. Similarly, colors are shifted to tones and saturations that emphasized the composition of color rather than a depiction of nature. Watabe received 19th Ichiro Fukuzawa Award (2014), Shintaro Ishihara Award of Tokyo Wonder Wall in 2015, Excellence Award of TURNER AWARD 2014 etc. She is also a recipient of the 31st Holbein Scholarship (2016) and also has participated in wall murals production for Mitsubishi Estate Shin Tokyo 4TH MURAL PROJECT (Shin-Tokyo Building, Tokyo) in 2021.
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Title: 熱帯花 #2
Year: 2022
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 116.5 x 91 cm (45 5/8 x 35 in.)
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熱帯花 #2 (Tropical Flowers #2)
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Year: 2022This work depicts the bold transformation on the composition of tropical plants. Although it is instantly recognizable that plants are being depicted, they appear to be far from realistic. They have been turned into simplified forms with more vivid colors. Watabe has accurately captured the natural characteristics and properties of the subject, and while deciding whether those elements must remain in the painting, she rearranged the forms and color. Realistic paintings are created without making such choices as much as possible and she attempted to depict the subject matter truthfully. Watabe’s works go beyond the threshold of the composition of what is generally regarded as figurative art and she goes slightly towards the direction of geometric abstraction. The exquisite sense of balance is what makes Watabe’s works shine out.
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 116.5 x 91 cm (45 5/8 x 35 in.)
Acquired from The Loop Gallery, 2022