We are pleased to present Masaru Bando Exhibition at MEGUMI OGITA GALLERY. Bando studied at Tokyo Zokei University from 1972 to 1974, and then went to Italy to study at the Academia Emilio Greco in Rome. He has continued to work as an artist based in Italy, the USA and Japan ever since.

 

Through his drawings, Bando considers the vertical line to represent ‘time’ when recognising how an object exists in space. This can be seen in Utagawa Hiroshige's depictions of rain, for instance, an oriental visual expression. For more than several decades, he has been going outside every morning and drawing the contours of nature as it reveals itself at dawn. His figure overlaps with that of Impressionist painters, who were greatly influenced by Japanese art and sought to capture a moment in the ever-changing world on their eyes.

 

Bando's works are unified by the concept of the embodiment of soul, while moving freely between two and three dimensions, abstraction and figuration. In this way, the relationship between material and space, the concept of time, and the constant organic of nature are sublimated into his works. The works are rooted in social events and his personal interests, but by finishing towards a universal expression, even the elusive themes can be shared with the viewer.

 

Bando makes an enormous amount of drawings on a single object, searching for qualities inherent in the repeated lines, a process that leads to the creation of paintings and sculptures. This means that he does not select the best of his work from a large number of pieces, but considers the accumulation of time spent on the entire process as the essence of work itself. In this exhibition, we will present mainly portraits, which were made in Rome, where he spent the 1970s, Brooklyn and Hokkaido, Japan. Besides, small sculptures, bronzes and ceramics will be on display.