Year: 2022
Medium: oil on guitar, chair
Dimensions: guitar: 115 x 40 cm (45 1/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
Acquired from Ginza Tsutaya Books, 2022
Elements of music frequently appear in Mitobe's works. She often references musicians such as Michael Jackson, David Bowie and John Lennon as motifs. Mitobe’s artworks and music are often related to each other. In her solo exhibitions, various “painted” musical instruments are brought in from the atelier and arranged as installations. As an extended expression of painting, Mitobe’s works have reached a sculptural volume as a result of extreme layering. From this perspective, this artwork is also not intended to be produced as a sculpture through paint. Instead, the support for the painting is not a canvas but a guitar. The chair, which serves as the support for this work, is covered with paint stains here and there and is probably from Mitobe’s atelier. The somewhat stained chair still retains its original form and purpose. On the other hand, the guitar, which has all its original elements covered by paint, has transformed into an object that can no longer produce sound. The contrast between the chair and the guitar highlights the peculiarity of this work even more.
