Makiko Kudo (032)

Makiko Kudo’s works depict familiar motives in imaginary scenes. She paints houses, trees, and people, but she paints them in such a way that the immediately recognizable is merged with something mysterious, enigmatic, and dreamy. This fusion of the realistic and the suggestive results in Kudo’s scenes appearing as if detached from time and space – concurrently universal and intimate; and a major inspiration for Kudo is indeed her own dreams, memories, and emotions. Kudo’s works may at first sight appear romantic and almost sentimental, on the edge of kitsch. However, closer inspection reveals that Kudo always works with dualities, exploring the relationship between dreams and facts; between metaphor and reality. Her paintings are mental landscapes, and the lone figures that appear as motives in them explore the psychological and physical space between representation and abstraction. Kudo’s paintings appear dynamic, intense, and powerful. Formally, they are rooted equally in classical Japanese imagery and in modern European painting. Kudo’s use of bright colors is almost expressionistic, her brushstroke ranges from the pastose and the Impressionistic to classical flat painting. However, the feeling of depth in the paintings is often not created using the laws of central perspective. Instead, Kudo merges several separate points of view on the canvas and builds up color and shapes in a way that makes them appear almost three-dimensional, seemingly reaching out beyond the flat surface. Moreover, references to anime and computer games often appear in Kudo’s motifs. Kudo works with both small and large formats. The present exhibition displays five new paintings, ranging in scale from 46 x 40 cm to the largest one measuring nearly 3 x 4 meters.