Lot 1247: HIROSHI KOBAYASHI

HIROSHI KOBAYASHI
(B. 1967)
Categorical Imperative
signed with artist's signature; titled 'Categorical imperative' in English; dated '2008' (on the reverse)
acrylic on canvas
135 x 269.6 cm. (53 1/8 x 106 1/8 in.)
Painted in 2008

Kobayashi's signature paintings of stuffed animals, integrate compositional elements found in Ukiyo-e, photography and animation, and are characterized by layered pictorial space and dynamic lines, with their ability to story-tell and immortalize them in our memory. By creating colour fields and placing selective shadows and lines, Kobayashi establishes free yet clear spatial planes and associated perspective to set the stage for his subjects. In this field, as though defying gravity, free floating animals linger mid canvas in a relaxed state, moving only at their own accord in a time warped space. Playfully addressing ideas of preservation and aging through his subject and the aid of computer technology, Kobayashi's works are a commentary on the ability of today's technology and science to suspend aging and conserving memories.

In Categorical Imperative (Lot 1247), the almost life-sized animals freely intermingle with one another as we once did as children sharing our toys. As emphasized in the title, the simple palette of blue, white and green, implores the viewer to happily fill the painting with personal memories, filling the white portions of the canvas with projections of their imagination. The imaginative characteristics of our subjective is echoed by the bright and slightly unnatural green used to create shadows rather than the traditional more heavy, black. In Somersault (Lot 1248) and One Answeri (Lot 1249), the further simplified blue and white draw the viewer's attention further into the delicate details of layered shades of blue, re-creating the tactile sensation of the soft fabric bodies. Suspended in flight, these works emanate ethereality saved for dreams and fantasies but upon viewing these deceptively digital hand painted works, the viewer is transported into a place where he or she is left to contemplate a singular, nostalgic moment of the past, present or future.