KOBE -- "I become completely absorbed," is how artist Tadanori Yokoo, 82, describes the experience of painting in front of others.
About 70 of the artist's works, including many of these "live paintings" done at museums nationwide, are on display at the Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art in Nada Ward, Kobe.
The exhibition, titled "Yokoo Tadanori: Grand Theatre of Live Painting -- Something's Happening at the Museum Today," runs until May 6.
"It's like a boat setting out to sea without a map. I don't know what I'll create until I try," Yokoo said about live paintings.
He did one of his live paintings at the museum in late January. The subject was himself facing the canvas as seen from the back.
He first created a general outline using black paint, then colored it with rough strokes. The painting took about four hours to complete.
He said there were several moments when he became completely absorbed in the work, even with people staring at his back.
"I paint in a chimpanzee-like state, my head empty of thoughts and words. I feel best at those times," he said.
Yokoo started doing live paintings in 1984, not long after switching careers from graphic designer to painter. In the beginning he had no studio, so the practice was a means of securing a place to work, he said.
He chooses his subjects from people and scenes that happen to catch his interest. In the 1980s, female bodybuilder Lisa Lyon was the model for several creations.
His wild, intuitive brushwork seems to reject any sense of harmony and conveys a chaotic energy that could only be generated at a live painting.
Starting in the 2000s, Yokoo has repeatedly painted Y-junctions, based on intersections in Hyogo, Miyazaki and other prefectures he visited.
The paintings are often of night scenes, with the roads branching off into darkness as if leading to another world. In 2008, he began painting landscapes while dressed as a road construction worker or in other guises.
He sometimes starts without knowing what he is going to paint.
"What's Yours is Mine. What's Mine is Mine. II" from 2009 shows human figures and letters floating under a red water surface. Rough brushstrokes show the tremors and ripples of the water. Yokoo said the inspiration for the work was a pool-like permanent exhibit at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, in Kanazawa.
About 40 years have passed since Yokoo changed his mode of expression from designing to painting.
After completing January's live painting, he said: "For me, most works end incomplete. Design has a goal but painting doesn't. You just have to keep running as far as you can."
When I watched Yokoo paint in front of others, I saw him give himself up to intuition and the thrill of the moment. I got the sense I was witnessing the creative source of an artist who refuses to be satisfied with a single style.
The exhibition also features photos and videos of Yokoo engaged in his live paintings at various venues.
"Yokoo Tadanori: Grand Theatre of Live Painting -- Something's Happening at the Museum Today" will run until May 6 at the Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art in Nada Ward, Kobe. The museum is closed Mondays except on holidays. Visit ytmoca.jp for more details.
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