NYAB Event - Yui Kugimiya “East River”

Yui Kugimiya “East River”

Marlborough Broome Street

This event has ended.

These vibrant paintings, in often-vivid hues and with strong, thick brush-strokes, feature views from Kugimiya’s Brooklyn studio, which overlooks the East River. Kugimiya’s inspiration comes from experiences in daily life and contemplation of mundane moments. This is powerfully apparent in them, in which changing mood, atmosphere and light are captured in diverse views and also in more closely framed images, including a series of geese swimming.

Movement and stillness are two conflicting elements, which coexist in Kugimiya’s work. Her paintings are developed through a process of layering on the canvas, which allows the artist to blend colors and shapes together, blurring the boundaries of figuration and abstraction. Powerful brushstrokes explore the image directly on the canvas, creating different thicknesses and dynamic texture.

While some of Kugimiya’s paintings in this exhibition evoke a playful, post-Impressionist exploration of light and color, reminiscent for example of Pierre Bonnard, her contemporary focus and approach suggest vivacious energy and an engagement with the changing moment, even as the traditional material lends a weight and sense of permanence to the works. Indeed, Kugimiya’s interest in the passing of time and the act of recording its passage, with a contemporary sensibility, evident throughout the exhibition, may evoke associations with the work of Japanese artist, On Kawara.

Yui Kugimiya (b. 1981) was raised in Tokyo, Japan and moved to the U.S. in 2001. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Selected solo exhibitions include Cat Moshimoshi, Kunsthalle Stavanger, Norway; Cat Brushing Teeth and other works, by Urban Video Project and Light Work, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Donut and Horizon, Galeria Enrique Guerrero, Mexico City, Mexico; Cat and Bird Paintings, Taka Ishii Gallery, Kyoto Japan. Kugimiya was also included in group exhibitions at The StandART Video Program, curated by Creative Time, The Standard Hotel, Multiple Locations; Salad Days, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY to name a few.