shashasha

This 2021 publication features 51 new works by London-based Japanese painter Kentaro Kobuke, created between 2016 and 2021. Kobuke demonstrates that his artistic expression has only deepened, despite (or perhaps because of) the impact of the corona pandemic.
Utilizing fragmentary moments from daily life, animals, plants and people he has met in his work, Kobuke paints colorful scenes of an almost transparent nature, full of intimacy and allegory. This series of paintings captures the joy of an everyday life where the ordinary has (of necessity) become the special.

“Kobuke’s observations upon these themes are transformed into layers of colors and emotions, producing multi-stratified images. Confrontation with darkness and a hopeful search for light coexist in his work …”
— from Mayumi Uchida’s foreword (included in Japanese & English translation)