Sometimes a hideous picture of a ghost sends a chill down our spine and a cruel painting in which the spattering of blood is depicted makes us avert our eyes from it. Such a feeling of “terror” is especially elicited by the specific figures of the subjects depicted in these pictures, which stimulate our sense of pain. Nevertheless, there are other kinds of paintings which fuel our fear. As the title of this exhibition shows, paintings created by Hidenori Majima (1960- ) give us an image of water and, in fact, water plays a significant role in his creative process. As a result, he conveys the ambiguous nature of water - its nature as a guardian that cultivates life, and that of a destroyer that takes life. This is reflected clearly in his creations. Indeed, Majima’s works, whose titles include the Greek word “Kinesis” which means a motion, transformation, generation and extinction, can be said to have their significance in the conflict between the above two different natures of water, but in this exhibition, we find a strong presence of the latter nature in some exhibits, which seems to contribute to creating a sense of unity throughout this exhibition [fig. 1].

     The exhibits are, the “Kinesis No.294 (hydrometeor)” (paper/ink/pigments/etc, 240.0cm×720.0cm, 2006, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo) [fig. 2], the “Kinesis No.359” (paper/ink/pigments/etc, 220.0cm×150.0cm, 2008, Collection of the artist) [fig. 3], the “Kinesis No.362 (hydrometeor)” (paper/ink/pigments/etc, 190.0cm×720.0cm, 2008, Collection of the artist) [fig. 4] and the “Kinesis No.411 (hydrometeor)” (paper/ink/pigments/etc, 175.0cm×460.0cm, 2009, Collection of the artist) [fig. 5]. All these works express the nature of water as a destroyer that takes life. The four paintings have in common that they were created based on the color blue as a whole, and some lines, which were drawn using purple as their basic color, go across the canvas or traverse the picture planes longitudinally as if they are pulling on them. These lines create different images for different viewers, such as flames or willows trailing down on a river bank but seen late at night, which gives us a different image to seeing them during the day. Anyhow, the lines evoke my “terror” due to their realistic images.

     Strictly speaking, this exhibition cannot be called a solo exhibition in that we can enjoy Majima’s works together with Hoan Kosugi’s creations^*1 which are owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. But, anyhow, there is a risk that Majima’s paintings will give viewers a similar impression to that received from Kosugi’s when they are displayed in equal numbers (in this exhibition, all thirty-one of his creations are displayed), probably because his paintings were created using a consistent method. Regarding his creative process, I would like to quote a brief description included in the catalogue of this exhibition, which is written by Satoshi Shinohara, who is the curator of the Matsumae Commemoration Hall, Tokai University.

“He uses a wide variety of materials, such as ink, natural pigments, pigments, acrylic paints, marble powder and different kinds of rock, including melted rock, sand, pumice stone, rock and ore. He creates paints by crushing these materials and mixing them with water, glue or a special medium. His creative method is also characteristic in terms of utilizing the fluidity of water and the force of gravity. He soaks a piece of Japanese paper which is attached to a panel into a large volume of water. And after that, he drops paint onto the paper and flushes it out with water. By repeating this process, he overpaints the previous color. During his creative process, a paint brush becomes assimilated into his body and paints which are moist with water fall from the head of the brush rapidly one after another. Then, he pours plenty of water on a picture plane. Lifting a large panel which is covered with water, tipping it and pouring water on it - this is his painting style.”^*2

     Since such a creative process brings about the eventuality to Majima’s works beyond his control, we can find differences among them easily without looking at them closely. Nonetheless, his creations tend to give us similar images due to his coherent creative method, and this “similarity” among his paintings sometimes gives a monotonous impression of an exhibition as a whole. In 2009, Majima’s solo exhibitions have been held five times. Considering these solo exhibitions (except two of them which I missed) not all of them have impressed me sufficiently except for the solo exhibition at the Shinseido Hatanaka Art Gallery, in which the hexagonal-shaped “Kinesis No.316 (hydrometeor)” (paper/ink/pigments/etc, 245.0cm×1800.0cm [two sides], 2007, Collection of the artist) [fig. 6], which is exhibited also in this exhibition, was presented. This exhibition is composed of various kinds of exhibits ranging from small creations to big pieces without exclusively relying on the “Kinesis No.316 (hydrometeor)”, though this work is said to be an epoch-making one among Majima’s creations and plays a significant role also in this exhibition. This exhibition made me feel that it would be nonsense to discuss the rights and wrongs of Majima’s creations on a piecemeal basis without having knowledge of all of his “Kinesis” series, which contains more than four hundred works. When visiting Majima’s solo exhibition, which was held at the Galerie Ando in Shibuya in early spring this year, I had an opportunity to talk Majima and said that almost all his works have a risk of evoking very similar impressions for viewers. Nevertheless, I was wrong in this suggestion because of my lack of experience in looking at his creations. Needless to say, it is impossible for us to have the opportunity to encounter all his works, but we have no right to criticize his creations unless we recognize that it is our duty to know about all pieces before we criticize them. I sincerely apologize for my rudeness.

     By the way, Majima’s works often seem to be regarded as grand pieces which were created based on themes involving the universe since their titles include the symbolic word “Kinesis”, and there has been discussion on whether they transcend the field of “Japanese-style painting” because they are made by using materials used in Japanese-style paintings, such as ink and natural pigments. It can be said that Kosugi’s creations which are owned by the museum which is the venue of this exhibition, and are also shown in this exhibition, have the same nature as those of Majima’s works mentioned above. For example, Kosugi’s “白雲幽石図” (shihon-chakushoku, 38.0cm×148.0cm, ca. 1933, Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, Nikko), in which an old man who looks like a mountain hermit is standing alone on the edge of a big stone which is depicted as if it is floating in the air, gives us a magnificent image. In addition, originally, Kosugi created Western-style paintings with his nickname “Misei Kosugi” before he was named “Hoan”, which contributes significantly to making us consider the question of transcending the field of “Japanese-style painting” and also the relationship between “Japanese-style paintings” and “Western-style paintings” from an art-historical perspective. Nonetheless, here, I dare write only the fact that I feel the Majima’s above-mentioned works particularly evoked my “terror” which is a very private feeling for me. My aim here is not to write an interpretation that is above my ability or describe an historical perspective in which we can position creations but to talk about the terrifying paintings in front of me. The “terror” means “beauty”. (Translated by Nozomi Nakayama)

*1

Hoan Kosugi, a Japanese style painter, 1881-1964

*2

Satoshi Shinohara, “The Path towards Creation: Hidenori Majima - Continuously- Destroyed Orders -”, P25, “Hidenori Majima: Kinesis / The Water Forest - with Hoan Kosugi -”, Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, Nikko, 2009

"Hidenori MAJIMA: Kinesis / The Water Forest - with Hoan Kosugi -"
25/Jul/2009 - 13/Sep/2009
Venue: Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, Nikko