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Akihiro Kuroda Exhibition

Traveling Through Humanity via Portraiture.

Face; something that you see others more than your own. Something that most people are interested in. Face can't express everything about its owner, but sometimes, seems that it does. Face; everyone has to live with their own one through their lifetime.

Akihiro Kuroda

Akihiro Kuroda is an artist born in Hokkaido, Japan. Originally he had been doing various art activities as a 2D artist. But in 2003, Kuroda reconsidered the origin of an artist, and he shifted his life to be a "portraiture artist". The reason why he chooses portraitures is because it is well known by the ordinary people. Its intelligibility and simplicity hold appeal for Kuroda.

Akihiro Kuroda

He explained a little more detail about this reason. Today, everything is categorized and we can't live without those categories. But portraitures are one of the arts which don't have any genre. And also drawing portraitures is challenging for the artists. When he shows his works to his models, it has to satisfy them that it is themselves.

Akihiro Kuroda

And Kuroda thinks that there are two kinds of art. One is for rich people, and another is the art as counter-culture. He denies either of these. He wants to do art for the ordinary people. As he decided that, his way to do is determined to portraiture. He wants to express the humanity through portraiture. And he wants to make something like a mandala of human by collecting his portraits.

Akihiro Kuroda

He travelled Hokkaido to drawing portraitures. While he was traveling, he met people, drew them, and let them introduce him another models. When he gets to be introduced people, that means they like his work. And he draws another work. He makes charcoal to draw by himself. He told us that you can make it from some materials that available at 100-yen shop.

Akihiro Kuroda

When he draws, he doesn't think about the composition first. He talks to them first. Talks about something the models like to talk. And while he talks to them, he talks to himself at the same time. He chooses lines one by one from the abstract image through those two ways of conversations. It is a live communication through paper and charcoal. Portraitures connect people and expand the world of communication. It is the way of communication through the art.

Akihiro Kuroda

In Rishiri, Hokkaido, he held an exhibition at a fisherman's lodge. He displayed 60 portraits of people living in Rishiri. 60 is 1% out of the whole population of this city. Local audiences came to see local people's portraits. In this way, people’s eye to see his work become more active. As a result, the ordinary people start to be interested in the art.

In 2005, Kuroda is invited to Yokohama International Triennale of Contemporary Art, one of the biggest international art exhibition in Japan. And his works has been broadcasted in some TV shows. In 2006, he traveled to Bangladesh and held an exhibition of portraits of people live there. He was also invited to some shows in Tokyo and Hokkaido. Now his field is expanding. For example, art therapy through portraitures at hospitals, and "Portraits to touch" for visually handicapped people.

In this exhibition "Traveling Through Humanity via Portriture", his portraitures up to now were displayed. And what’s more, he drew new portraitures during the exhibition. It was surprising that every single work has different style of drawing. That is a proof of the fact that everyone has different color, and maybe because he sublimates portraiture into the fine art. The portraitures are all black and white, but it touches our heart with full of colors.

Akihiro Kuroda "Traveling Through Humanity via Portraiture"
Date: July 12th - 17th, 2008
Hours: 13:00-23:00
Place: CAI 02
Address: B2F Showa bld. Odori West 5, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan
http://www.cai-net.jp

Text and photos: Shinichi Ishikawa (Numero Deux)
Translation: Shiori Saito

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