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Lot Essay
The aesthetics of Aida Makoto's art resides in the explicit visual language of his subject matter. His audaciousness in expressing his deepest desires reveals his thoughts on the realities of Japan's national history, and social issues of contemporary Japanese society. His painterly interpretations of these subjects are expressed through the art of manga, and are frequently loaded with violent, pornographic and savage imageries. Shocking and disturbing, his art nonetheless has the power to provoke the spectator. A strategy that is effective in conveying his dark and nihilistic views of the world around him. It is with this honesty in expression that he is granted a legacy as the prime figure of Japanese Contemporary Art.
Makoto is a member of 'The Group 1965', hence resistant to the dominant cultural influence of the New Pop movement in Japan. As an artist, Makato was trained in the tradition of manga, and it is this sequential, collective and liberating realm that his raw and perverse subject matter found an ideal place for expression. His works do not just serve as a regurgitation of manga's techniques but utilizes its simplicity of form and contour to convey the artist's fantastical and impulsive ideas. Although the artist demonstrates his skillfulness in the art of manga, he also endeavors to seek other forms of artistic expression through institutional art, further affirming his versatility as an artist.
In Space Knife (Lot 68), Makoto transformed the flat surface of the canvas into three-dimensional clip from an animation. The knife is captured at a diagonal, emphasising its razor-sharpness and sense of drama. In the still life genre, the arrangement of object is to give it new meaning. Here, the knife is placed at an angle, to accentuate its power as a weapon. It is also enlarged to a point where the object becomes exalted, exuding an aura of the sublime, skillfully turning an ordinary kitchen appliance into a kind of majestic extraterrestrial being. The swift linear strokes not only mimic the constellations of shooting stars but also create a sense of motion and speed. The strong architectural lines of the knife release a supersonic spaceship construction in forward motion. The knife appears to be caught between the successions of images of an animation, insinuating continuity, while it is actually suspended in the picture plain. Despite the two-dimensionality of the painting, the structure of the lines provides an illusion of watching an animation in virtual reality.
Movement and Animation is intrinsically linked in the Space Knife, and the repetition of lines that creates the illusion of motion recalls the dynamism of Futurism (Fig. 1). The Futurists were influenced by a visual technology called chrono-photography, which was a predecessor of animation. The painting reveals the artist's shared affinity for technology, speed, dynamism and war with the Futurist. Indeed, the Futurist manifestos outlines, "Kthe gesture which we would reproduce on canvas shall no longer be a fixed moment Kit shall simply be the dynamic sensation itself." This dynamic sensation is captured in the Space Knife. Caught in the moment when the knife struck the surface, the quick stokes around it represent the kinetic energy it releases when used with blunt force. The sense of motion is also reminiscent of Classical Japanese art (Fig. 2), where one moment of climax is depicted as the vocal point of the painting. Makoto also used the Futurist device of naturalistic color to heighten the impact of the work. With its majestic size, the spectator finds themselves in awe of the grandeur and beauty of a supposedly violent object. The Space Knife is a highly stylized, surreal yet cinematic image that magnifies the strength and potency of a weapon. Throughout his artistic output, Makoto flaunts this dark yet comedic cynicism. This flexibility in technical prowess and unlimited imagination are qualities that make Makoto a brilliant artist.
Makoto is a member of 'The Group 1965', hence resistant to the dominant cultural influence of the New Pop movement in Japan. As an artist, Makato was trained in the tradition of manga, and it is this sequential, collective and liberating realm that his raw and perverse subject matter found an ideal place for expression. His works do not just serve as a regurgitation of manga's techniques but utilizes its simplicity of form and contour to convey the artist's fantastical and impulsive ideas. Although the artist demonstrates his skillfulness in the art of manga, he also endeavors to seek other forms of artistic expression through institutional art, further affirming his versatility as an artist.
In Space Knife (Lot 68), Makoto transformed the flat surface of the canvas into three-dimensional clip from an animation. The knife is captured at a diagonal, emphasising its razor-sharpness and sense of drama. In the still life genre, the arrangement of object is to give it new meaning. Here, the knife is placed at an angle, to accentuate its power as a weapon. It is also enlarged to a point where the object becomes exalted, exuding an aura of the sublime, skillfully turning an ordinary kitchen appliance into a kind of majestic extraterrestrial being. The swift linear strokes not only mimic the constellations of shooting stars but also create a sense of motion and speed. The strong architectural lines of the knife release a supersonic spaceship construction in forward motion. The knife appears to be caught between the successions of images of an animation, insinuating continuity, while it is actually suspended in the picture plain. Despite the two-dimensionality of the painting, the structure of the lines provides an illusion of watching an animation in virtual reality.
Movement and Animation is intrinsically linked in the Space Knife, and the repetition of lines that creates the illusion of motion recalls the dynamism of Futurism (Fig. 1). The Futurists were influenced by a visual technology called chrono-photography, which was a predecessor of animation. The painting reveals the artist's shared affinity for technology, speed, dynamism and war with the Futurist. Indeed, the Futurist manifestos outlines, "Kthe gesture which we would reproduce on canvas shall no longer be a fixed moment Kit shall simply be the dynamic sensation itself." This dynamic sensation is captured in the Space Knife. Caught in the moment when the knife struck the surface, the quick stokes around it represent the kinetic energy it releases when used with blunt force. The sense of motion is also reminiscent of Classical Japanese art (Fig. 2), where one moment of climax is depicted as the vocal point of the painting. Makoto also used the Futurist device of naturalistic color to heighten the impact of the work. With its majestic size, the spectator finds themselves in awe of the grandeur and beauty of a supposedly violent object. The Space Knife is a highly stylized, surreal yet cinematic image that magnifies the strength and potency of a weapon. Throughout his artistic output, Makoto flaunts this dark yet comedic cynicism. This flexibility in technical prowess and unlimited imagination are qualities that make Makoto a brilliant artist.