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Osamu Kato at Upstream Gallery
By RAYMOND J. STEINERAugust, 2002 SOME TWENTY-FIVE works – paintings, drawings, constructs – comprise this interesting little show,* "Subconscious Dialogues" offering the viewer a subtle meld of Oriental and Western styles that, if this exhibit is a fair indication, characterizes the art of Osamu Kato. Primarily abstract – though recognizable elements such as the moon may appear embedded in grids or fields of color – Kato’s "dialogues," using as they do a non-figurative visual vocabulary, appear to this viewer to be of limited access – but then they are, after all, "subconscious" and need not presuppose a listener/viewer for a successful interchange to occur. As with most non-figurative work then, communication between artist and viewer must occur on a non-verbal level – in brief, one is thrown back upon purely visceral responses to color and shape – both of which Kato uses (along with a somewhat frequent use of gold leaf) very effectively. The danger, of course, is that the viewer is left largely on his/her own, free to make whatever associations one wishes to concoct. Though "fun" for the critic, the reader is then left with what can often become little else than that critic’s subjective ramblings (i.e. an incommunicable new ‘subconscious dialogue’). Kato’s large, saturated fields of color – or, at times, non-color (black, white) – are broken by nondescript shapes that can either harmonize or clash with the larger field; when in harmony (as in, for example "Blackout) one is left with a sense of repose and, conversely, when in opposition (as in "Prayer for September 11) one of restiveness. For this viewer, while a painting such as "Blue Descent" allowed me to enjoy what I might call an "unprogrammed" response, I found the profound serenity of "Aura" to be especially appealing. Most informative of the dialogues which the artist shares with us – I thought – were the series of small mixed media pieces ("Posted," I thru IV) that revealed in their construction a desire for a universe more orderly than that found in the free-flowing paintings – in these, at any rate, the yin and the yang seem to be enjoying a truce. Though it would be risky to offer sweeping judgments on such a small sampling of works, I would choose to see more of Osamu Kato’s work – and feel no compunction about recommending to my readers to keep an eye out for his future showings. *"Osamu Kato: Subconscious Dialogues" (Jun 20–Jul 14): Upstream Gallery, 26B Main St., Dobbs Ferry, NY (914) 674-8548. |
