From Kanamaru's perspective, animals have existed in the human environment since ancient times. Serving as objects of perception, animals sometimes transform between various identities. At times, they are reliable and dependable family members or friends, while at other times, they become objects of awe driven by primal instincts. Kanamaru considers that animals, as vessels onto which we project our emotions, fill the sense of emptiness and loss within us.


YUJI KANAMARU: Splendid Waltz
Taipei
2024.02.24 – 03.30
Yuji Kanamaru was born in 1978 in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2001, he founded and led the artist group "C-DEPOT," which remains active to this day. The following year, he began his career as a full-time artist. Kanamaru utilizes traditional Japanese mounting techniques on wooden boards, combining collage with hemp fabric and English newspaper cutouts. He repeatedly applies vibrant and soft colors using acrylic and mineral pigments to create a textured and three-dimensional effect on the canvas. Drawing inspiration from everyday life, the artist incorporates familiar subjects such as animals, plants, and urban streets, constructing warm and comforting scenes. In the meantime, he generates multi-layered images and textures, capturing the ephemeral beauty of our daily existence and building a lavish tapestry of diverse colors. Through the viewer's gaze, Kanamaru's works summon a gentle yet profound magic, reconstructing vanishing landscapes, memories, and emotions, leading us into a layered and fantastical world that allows our inner selves to softly reside upon the ark.
In the exhibition "Splendid Waltz," Kanamaru presents two series of works— his iconic "Animal Series" and the recent focus on the " Annulus Series."




I aim to express the subtle, invisible distance—neither too close nor too far—that connects the unconscious of the viewer and brings dialogue and empathy through these works.


In his works, whether it be the fearless eagle soaring in the sky, the wise elephant on land, or the long-lived sea turtle in the vast ocean, all move forward, tread, and turn with a graceful rhythm, blurring the boundaries between human and animal identities. In the recent "Annulus Series," Kanamaru incorporates philosophical thoughts and concepts created by ancient civilizations, such as mandalas, zodiac signs, cosmic views, and mythology. The compositions of these works revolve around the motif of the " Annulus." Drawing inspiration from the vibrant and intricate color patterns along with the symbolic arrangement of totemic elements of mandalas, the cycle of eastern zodiac and the natural cosmic perspective of lunar phases, this series prompts self-inquiry into the essence of life while unfolding captivating animal stories. In Kanamaru’s view, the connection between animals, humans, and the natural environment is an eternal bond. Through observations of the world, his brush outlines animals as vessels carrying human emotions, concretizing people's mental landscape. In the fantastical world created by Yuji Kanamaru, all living beings dance through the flow of time and memories—one by one, a splendid waltz comes alive.


ABOUT

가나마루 유지
가나마루 유지
2003년 도쿄예술대학 디자인학과 졸업하였으며, Masataka Oyabu와 Chinami Nakajima라는 일본화의 두 거장에게 가르침을 받았다. Kanamaru는 삼베 조각, 영자신문 등을 표면에 적용해 의도적인 균열로 본연의 질감을 표현한다. 선명하면서도 부드러운 색을 입히는 반복적인 기법은 깊이의 환상을 일으키고 그것은 작가만의 개성을 드러낸다. 작품 속 화면의 건조함은 그가 어린 시절을 보냈던 남미를 연상케 하며, 독특한 모티브와 도시 풍경이 흩뿌려져 있다. 그는 이국적인 분위기와 향수를 불러일으키는 감정을 융합하여 매혹적인 세계관을 형성한다. 또한, Kanamaru는 예술 그룹 C-Depot을 결성하고, 주요 멤버로 활약하고 있으며 그의 작품은 국제 아트페어에서 자주 소개되는 등 특히 아시아에서 엄청난 인기와 높은 인지도를 얻고 있다.


2024.02.24 – 03.30
TAIPEI
전화: +886 2 8751 1185
팩스: +886 2 8751 1175
영업시간: 11:00 - 19:00
휴무: 일요일, 월요일, 공휴일