About the Exhibition

Yuji Hiratsuka: Hybrid Figures – exhibition essay by Carrie Phillips-Kieser

“Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, sun, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves, singing songs, drinking wine, and diverting ourselves just in floating caring not a whit for the pauperism staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened like a gourd floating along with the floating world” – Asai Ryoi, Tales of the Floating World.

This passage refers to the floating world of Ukiyo-e prints during the Edo era of the 17th century in Japan, but it could just as easily be referring to the celebration of life depicted in Yuji Hiratsuka’s current exhibition. His etchings are of figures caught in full bloom of bleeding rose-reds, indigo, and rich lacquer black, they are filled with intricate patterns and designs, playful textures and layers; they awaken our senses and call our attention to heightened emotional tensions through their dramatic articulated gestures. The over articulated gestures of the figures are like actors arranged in synchronized poses of dance, or moments frozen in contemplation and pleasure.

Undeniably echoing the Barque exaggerations of past Japanese prints depicting actors from the Kabuki theatre, particularly those of the artist Sharaku (fl. 1794-5) whose wood block prints depict contemporary actors in character conveying a sense of drama by distortion. Hiratsuka’s figures seem to announce or celebrate particular performances, or portray emotions of the heart and body but with a contemporary update and twist. His actors are also spicy and taunt with tensions of desire and temptations. Set within luscious metaphorical landscapes, forbidden ripe fruit is offered, presented and indulged upon, venus fly traps and pitcher plants mirror in the participation of the carnivorous consumption and one can not help but to feel caught up in the indulgence and even perhaps excesses of life. They fill tightly cropped spaces, adding to the   heightened intensity of their depictions of human conditions.

There is also a bridging that happens in his prints; a bridge between the east and the west where traditions of the eastern past do not over shadow them being firmly rooted in Hiratsuka’s western reflections and surroundings. Hiratsuka’s use of contemporary western dress: the vests, short flirting skirts and clinging dresses articulate current fashions of today and speak of a global merging of cultures.

Overall the metaphors of deeper meaning, there is a sense of humour and lightheartedness that abounds. These are happy times, playful times, and life is good, even if it is seeped in extravagance, and they beacon for us to take a moment to immerse ourselves in life’s plenty, while we can.

About the Artist

Award-winning Yuji Hiratsuka is a professor of art at Oregon State University. He is widely exhibited through out the world and is in multiple collections, including The British Museum in London and Tokyo Central Museum in Japan. This is his first exhibition in Calgary, Alberta.