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Indepth Arts News:
"Nothing for Something : Hugo Kobayashi"
2010-05-01 until 2010-05-15
Hang Art
San Francisco, CA,
USA United States of America
In his third solo exhibition with HANG ART, Hugo Kobayashi continues to materialize his observations of societal obsessions through meticulous rendering. Sourcing his childhood upbringing, he carefully explores how drastically the perception of gambling or chance has changed over the years. His childhood influences frowned upon gambling, teaching him that the outcome never really results in winning. Today Kobayashi is alarmed at how many essential public services operate on the whim of state lotteries.
In response Kobayashi began focusing on lottery scratchers as his subject matter in 2008. To him, the graphic and colorful scratchers epitomize the changed perception of gambling and how risk-taking is marketed as a fun, easy opportunity to win money. Each painting unfolds on the canvas through a highly meticulous process. First Kobayashi scans a losing lottery ticket and prints it out. He then crumples up the printed image and photographs it to create his final reference piece. Through fastidious brushstrokes, the artist morphs the canvas into a realistic rendition of the scratcher, all the while maintaining the paint’s integrity.
Shown together, the body begs one to wonder how the scratchers’ owners were affected. Rather than implying a specific story, shown together the paintings leave the viewer to wonder how the scratchers came to be.
Born in Los Angeles in 1962 and reared in Orange County, Kobayashi began making images when he was five years old. He earned his bachelor's degree in studio art from the University of California at Berkeley in 1983 and his master's degree from Hunter College in New York in 1986. Hugo has participated in exhibitions at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Sue Scott Gallery in Manhattan, Berkeley Art Center, Keyson Gallery in Brooklyn, the Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael, and Pro Arts in Oakland.
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