Masataka Kurashina solo exhibition “TOTEMIC X” held at B GALLERY

For the third time in 20 years, "B GALLERY" will hold an exhibition of new works by artist Masataka Kurashina, "TOTEMIC X."

``I started custom painting because I saw an American racer's helmet in a bicycle magazine. As an illustrator at the time, I was fascinated by the bright colors of gold, silver, glitter, and fluorescent colors, which I had never used before in my work, and above all else, I became obsessed with the fun of drawing graphics on three-dimensional objects. Then I realized that my paintings surprised people, and I've used this as motivation to continue painting until now.
However, custom paint works naturally have the functionality of the helmet or car that they are based on. If the paint is given priority and the functionality is compromised (for example, if the doors and bonnet of a car are beautifully finished with putty filling...), it can no longer be called custom paint. In other words, custom paint has the fate of not being able to take priority over the base solid.
In this exhibition, we will only display works that violate the custom painting prohibition of ``never eliminate functionality.'' The impetus for making this work was when I somehow stacked six buckets in a staggered manner, and the whole thing looked more like a pillar than a bucket.
For example, just as a helmet should not be called ``FRP cap body, Styrofoam, chin strap, etc.'', this should be called as a whole rather than multiple buckets.
Therefore, I named this pile of buckets ``TOTEMIC X,'' meaning ``something like a totem pole.'' By painting the mass-produced buckets as a whole, each bucket has a fixed position and becomes part of the work.
This is my third solo exhibition in 20 years at< B GALLERY >.
Shortly after BEAMS JAPAN opened in 1998, I was given the opportunity to collect and exhibit custom helmets for the first time under the title ``Clothing Variations.'' The second exhibition was held in January 2000 under the title ``CLIMAX 2000'' and was a joint exhibition of ``REPLICA CUSTOM EVOLUTION.'', a painted work by contemporary artist Tetsuya Nakamura on the fastest-shaped sculpture with a total length of 6 meters. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the late Mr. Fuminori Tateno for giving me these two opportunities.
Also, this time, I will be able to sell a limited edition reprint of Bonzaipaint 's original logo T-shirt and Hand B cap, which was my starting point. I would also like to thank my old friend Toru Tatsuzawa, who kindly agreed to my sudden idea. ” - Masataka Kurashina