FEEL THE FEAR, AGAIN
The second phase of Yuree Kensaku’s exhibition feels a little too similar to the first — but her fans should be happy
Short review of Yuree Kensaku’s “New Paintings” as the second phase of her “Atmosfear” exhibition at 100 Tonson Gallery: an anticlimax.
A possible short review by the artist’s staunch fans: a joy.
It all started back in early 2016 when Yuree practically lived and worked in the space, taking up an apartment near the gallery and visiting her dog back home only occasionally. Four months later brought about four massive paintings which covered the entire walls as if actual murals.
The exhibition was about fear in many respects, and each wall spoke about it through seemingly light-hearted characters and colours — from her severe food allergy and concerns for environmental disasters to commentary on the world’s current humanitarian crises.
“I tend to speak about the bad things like sadness, illness or death because they are the things which stay with us,” said Yuree in a recent interview with Life. “We remember bad things better than good things. And it makes me feel better when making it into art.”
Yuree is right, but this isn’t only about making herself feel good but also the audience as well. With the previous show, it was even more than that. There was something about the enveloping effect of it that was just undeniable, even for those who aren’t Yuree’s fans. It was like stepping inside a fellow human being’s head and actually seeing what was going on — her near-death experience from a food allergy to her gripping depiction of people’s plights from natural and humanitarian disasters.
For “New Paintings”, however, these themes are put in separate canvases, and we’re back to visiting a space in a conventional sense, rather than as a continuing flow of floor-to-ceiling murals. According to the exhibition statement, the show acts as a sequel to the previous show and we will get to see more clearly the development of Yuree’s process and how “she has perfected some of the materials and techniques first initiated in her first exhibition”.
And this is a joy for Yuree’s fans because she has heavily incorporated quite a few techniques and materials, as opposed to the last show’s relative flatness — from bold and abundant use of glitter, fun collage, rough smudges of paint here and there to an installation of small objects around the paintings, challenging the limitation of a canvas block.
But even after all this, we still wonder how new are the “New Paintings”, and whether the show is actually a continuation or too much of a repetition of the same themes. The painting Freezing Cold
On A Hokkaido Seafood Table, for instance, feels rather too similar to the mural which used to be on the same wall and also spoke about her fatal food allergy. It’s different, of course, but is it a development or rather something of an afterthought?
Last year, the audience came to see and feel the fear, and one just wishes there’s something a little more different when we make a trip here again a year later. More importantly, it’s doubly tricky now because we are no longer nicely blocked in and forced to feel it like we did with the first show.
So what is it that’s capable of drawing us to this current show? If it’s not to have a conversation with the gallery co-ordinator, who is not only cute but also knowledgeable about the pieces as she has been working closely with the artist, then it is surely to see Yuree venture into transforming her characters to the three-dimensional.
Placed in the centre of the space is Yuree’s life-size mermaid sculpture, titled Gogi Chan Sitting On The Eternal Waste, which pops out from one of her installation paintings, but this time she’s sitting on a crumpled washing machine instead of a rock.
It’s one of those moments all over again when you know art is good because you can’t quite explain it. Why does the mermaid have a tempura tail with a few small pieces of tempura on her lap and in her hair? And why on earth is she on a washing machine?
Short review of this particular sculpture: I love it, and wouldn’t mind if she could ship it over to the Bangkok Post offices in exchange for a signed copy of this article.
The exhibition is on view until May 21 at 100 Tonson Gallery, Soi Tonson, Ploenchit Road.
We still wonder how new are the ‘New Paintings’