Shintaro Ohata is a Japanese contemporary painter and sculptor that masterfully combines both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional mediums to depict surrealistic everyday scenes. The most notable attribute in a majority of his artwork is the simplicity of his characters alongside dynamic variations in color and structure. His most popular works combine the aesthetic of an oil-painted canvas alongside a 3-dimensional figure in the same geometric, blotched style as the oil painting. His works are revolutionary within the art industry and introduce an interesting interpretation of the everyday life.
Born in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1975, a majority of Ohata's work takes influence from everyday life: be it movie theaters, convenience stores, or even crosswalks. Currently, he works in a studio in Tokyo, Japan where he continues to create what his audience has pegged "3D paintings" that have been critically acclaimed by both national and international art enthusiasts. He first appeared in the Japanese art scene in 2004 with his first solo gallery in Tokyo, Japan. But, his most popular pieces belong to the "Everyday Life" collection, which feature scenes clipped out of menial moments in life. The paintings are reminiscent of the artists' childhood with the simplified structures, cartoonish character expressions and subtle yet meaningful use of color.
There are many common themes within the works of Ohata. One of which is the intricacy of youth. The variety of his sculptures within and outside of the Everyday Life collection depict similar, child-like features doing simple actions. Nevertheless, the simplistic and almost child-like style (which may be attributed to that of a child's coloring) convey a nostalgic feeling to the viewer. Through his pieces, Ohata wishes to portray how ones youth has the duplicitous ability to be simple yet also complex.
This idea is especially visible in his "happy birthday?" piece from 2012 (see right). The work features a child sitting on a chair at an empty table. Atop the table is an empty plate, a coffee mug, a bear--the sole companion of the sculpted child, and an illuminated birthday cake. The sculpture is mounted upon a canvas painted to imitate a rug.
The viewer assumes that it is the child’s birthday. But, if it is the child’s birthday, why are they celebrating it alone? Although the subject is young, they are forced to celebrate such important commemorative events alone, in the comfort of an empty habitat. The solemn emotions of the child are visible through their ambiguous gaze towards the audience. The lack of complexity within the facial features of the child accentuate the melancholic emotion conveyed by a lone birthday party. Nevertheless, the warm colors bring about an opposite emotion--one of nostalgia, of reminiscing birthday parties and looking towards the future. These two contrasting ideas bring about the major theme of Ohata’s work: the simultaneous complexity and simplicity of the nature of youth.
Another common theme within the work of Ohata is the beauty in everyday life. Many of his paintings depict regular people doing regular things. This is thus extremely relatable to the reader, as they are able to connect to the painting and possible reminisce days in which they were doing the same as the painting’s subjects.
This theme is especially visible in “SAYONARA SANKAKU”, a piece from 2008 (see left). The sculpture and painting depicts a young Japanese schoolgirl on a bike, riding through a cherry blossoms, assumingly on the way home or venturing to school. It is a very menial moment in everyday life that is common to most Japanese folk. Although it is such an ordinary scene, it is depicted beautifully with soft mixtures of warm pinks and browns that stir familiar, nostalgic moments in the viewer’s mind. It captures the beauty of a moment many take for granted. 
I find Ohata’s artwork especially beautiful because of the unique implications of 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional art. He combines them in such a detailed, careful way-- something unique to most contemporary art. It quite literally brings the art into a new dimension and thus introduces the reader to the art in a more intimate level of understanding with the piece. Photographs of the artwork do it little justice; changing the viewing angle may transform it from an oil painting into an intuitive sculpture. Ohata’s unique style and use of color especially complement the physical structure of his works and emphasize the aesthetic beauty of the work.
Ohata has a very unique style that incorporates adolescent, youthful appearances onto his figures. The main “characters” in his works relate the reader to youthful, nostalgic days in their life. While simplistic, it is able to convey the beautiful meaning of his works. The particular color schemes Ohata implements also accomplishes this; although he may limit his color schemes to one color for the sake of fluidity (for example, focusing mainly upon blue hues or pink), the colors allow his works to simply appear aesthetically pleasing. The contrast between dark and lights and the natural shadows cast by the sculptures in front of the paintings especially accomplish this and accent the figures, color, and composition of his work.
Ohata’s work is especially unique to not only the Japanese art industry, but also to international artwork. He has accomplished something unique in his personal impressions of contemporary artwork and his visions of youth and childhood. While his work is, genuinely, “cool” in structure, it offers a complex vision into the eyes of a detail-oriented artist and allows the viewer to physically interact with the art itself.
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3 comments
Write commentsI really, really enjoyed this artist. The sculptures are so unique and charming; I’m glad to have learned about them!
ReplyI just have a slate of questions for you:
In the beginning, you used the phrase “subtle yet meaningful use of color”? I was wondering if you could elaborate on what you meant by “meaningful”? What can / does this artist do to be meaningful in his choice of colors?
What do you mean by intricacy of youth? In what way do you find it complex? Just that it is diverse in emotion and experience?
About “SAYONARA SANKAKU” - I don’t know anything about visual arts, but it definitely conveys a certain warmth and simple happiness to me when I look at it. The colors are calm and attractive. But I’m still wondering. What way do you, personally, find it beautiful? I understand that it’s conveying something about everyday life, but how exactly does “SAYONARA SANKAKU” establish and communicate the beauty therein?
This is so cool! I've never thought about a type of sculpture that combined both two dimensional art and three dimensional art. It is amazing that the sculpture and the paint share the same style and can be put together really well! For the paintings, they look really three-dimensional with the sculpture. For the sculpture, the painting adds some two-dimensional feelings into it. The mixture of both created a half two and half three dimensional sense, and adds the mysterious feeling into the entire artwork. I love it!!
ReplyI can never let my guard down around you, Amber.
ReplyBy a "meaningful" use of color, I was implying his choice in color, especially regarding his dark and light values. Ohata tends to limit his work to one color scheme; it's monochromatic, beside the slight addition of complementary colors for highlighting. Using lights and darks to exaggerate dimensions would be especially important in his style of work, as he attempts to make the background painting and the sculpture multidimensional using shading. Thus, he is meaningful in his meticulous choice of dark and light to amplify the "realness" of his works. Notably, she subdued color schemes evoke certain emotions in the viewer as well--light pinks imply something romantic or happier, and greens and blues for a more melancholic scene. In this case as well, his choice in color is an important decision in conveying the meaning of his works.
By intricacy of youth, I mean that exactly--in emotion, experience, remembrance, and its entirety. When one looks back on youth, they tend to remember it with one sole, defining trait, whether it be happiness, sadness, etc. With Ohata's work that captures a singular moment in youth, I believe he's trying to convey all the different emotions that circulate around "youth". Youth is different when you experience it compared to when you remember it. In that sense, I believe youth is intricate--it's not one experience, but rather the combination of everything and everything in the umbrella of adolescence.
Personally, one of the most appealing things about "SAYONARA SANKAKU" is the color scheme, since I absolutely adore pink and its related hues. I adore how the color scheme subtly references cherry blossoms blooming as well. (A bit of a disclaimer: this is my own interpretation of the work, so I've no idea if this is what Ohata intended). I've already established the beauty in grabbing such a simple moment--biking home in spring--in my post. But I think there are multiple dimensions of beauty he's attempting to convey besides this: the romantic and nostalgic feelings spurred by spring, the tranquility of nature and even the beauty in simplicity. I don't have a direct answer to your question, because I can't even phrase it myself--like you said, the work is calming and conveys "simple happiness". So, I think that's how he's conveying beauty, not necessarily through complex messages we have to determine but rather through the emotions his work conveys. Sorry, I know it's not much of an answer but it's all I can infer myself from his work!
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