The fourth in a series of our blog covering the “Roppongi Crossing 2016” artists and their works shines a spotlight on Goto Yasuka, whose works depict wartime episodes from the lives of ordinary individuals.
Yosegaki
2008
Oil, acrylic and Japanese ink on canvas
304 × 480 cm
Collection: The National Museum of Art, Osaka
Inspired by actual experiences of the Pacific War she heard from her relatives, Goto Yasuka makes free use of her imagination to produce paintings of wartime episodes involving individuals.
All of the exhibited works, which are boldly rendered in Japanese ink, depict her grandfather, who served in the war. Imoarai (packed) (2008) shows him aboard a crowded Navy transport ship, while Yosegaki (messages) (2008) shows him writing messages along with his brothers-in-arms prior to being posted to different locations, both serious situations that are nevertheless depicted with a touch of humor. From the expressions on the faces of the soldiers, some serious, some smiling, some impassive, we get a sense of their individual personalities.
According to Goto, the pair of paintings that make up Aioi Bashi (Aioi Bridge) (2013) depict an asynchronous encounter between her grandfather as a boy who wants to join the army, and his later self after enlisting. It is said that Aioi Bridge was the target for the Hiroshima atomic bomb. When Goto's grandfather returned to Japan at the end of the war, having narrowly avoided being sent on a suicide mission, neither his family home near the bridge nor the bridge itself still existed. Today, his fateful story is being shared with us by his granddaughter, Goto Yasuka.
Installation view: “Roppongi Crossing 2016: My Body, Your Voice,” Mori Art Museum, 2016
Photo: Nagare Satoshi
■Relevant Information
・Mori Art Museum
“Roppongi Crossing 2016: My Body, Your Voice”
Period: from Saturday, March 26 - Sunday, July 10, 2016.
・“Roppongi Crossing 2016”: Artists and Works
(1) Mohri Yuko
(2) Katayama Mari
(3) Ishikawa Ryuichi
(4) Goto Yasuka
(5) Shimura Nobuhiro
(6) Kobayashi Erika
(7) Jun Yang
(8) Hasegawa Ai
