Oscar Oiwa

Oscar Oiwa
Summer 2010
Born	August, 1965 São Paulo, Brazil
Nationality	Brazil,  United States
Field	painter, visual artist, architect
Training	School of Architecture and Urbanism, São Paulo University
Movement	Globalism or Art in Global Age
Awards	Pollock-Krasner Foundation(1996), Guggenheim Fellowship(2001), Asian Cultural Council (2002), among others

Oscar Oiwa (in Japanese: 大岩オスカール)　born in Brazil as son of Japanese immigrants, he received his B.F.A. (1989) from the School of Architecture and Urbanism, São Paulo University. Oiwa absorbed influences from comic books, art, and magazines throughout his youth, as well as the urban environment of his birthplace. He experienced contemporary art during this time in nearby galleries and as an assistant at the São Paulo Art Biennial. He held his first solo exhibition while he was still in college and thereafter participated in the 21st São Paulo Art Biennial (1991). He currently lives and works in New York, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. He has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1990. Selected public and important collections: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Mori Museum of Art, Tokyo; Phoenix Museum of Art, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, among others. He is represented in New York by P.P.O.W., in São Paulo by Thomas Cohn Gallery, in Tokyo by Artfront Gallery, in Beijing by BTAP+Tokyo Gallery, and in Hong Kong by Connoisseur Contemporary among others.

Globalism

Born in São Paulo in 1965, Oiwa relocated to Tokyo in 1991 after graduating from the university. After ten years in Japan, interrupted by a year spent in London, he moved to New York in 2002 and has since made that city base of operations. His decision both times to relocate to another country was motivated by a desire to expand his activities as an artist, he says. At this suggests, Oiwa has always been a self-motivating artist, sure of his needs, when it comes to his movements. Looking back over his some 20 years of art production starting from São Paulo days, we find Oiwa’s oeuvre to embrace everything from texts, paintings, and art objects to fictional narrative-based installations, conceptual works patterned after kits, public art, and book production. ^[1]

Oiwa's works present us with a world closely familiar and yet completely unexpected. As is often said, it is a world constructed of dissimilar or opposing elements that, although starkly different, coexist. Behind the fascination Oiwa's works awaken in so many people is the originality and breadth of vision with which he connects these innumerable elements - their amplitude, in other words . ^[2]

The coexistence of naturalist representation and the fabled-fantastic datum is one of most remarkable and typical aspects of Oiwa’s paintings – one that approximates his production to Brazilian and Latin American literary tradition, of so-called magic realism. The realm of authors such Jorge Amado, Alejo Carpentier, Isabel Allende or Gabriel García Marquez, to mention only a few among the most celebrated, is characterized by a similar oscillation, that is to say, by the coexistence of meticulously naturalist descriptions, often deeply engaged from the social political standpoint, and passages of fantastic literature, replete with ghosts, miracles, and metamorphoses. Here, the possible and the impossible seem to live in harmony; the absurd and the inexplicable become plausible, and the fabulous become natural and even expected, exactly like in Oiwa’s pictures. The joyful and yet menacing giant flowers that hover over New York in Gardening (Manhattan) (2002), or the black snow that falls over São Paulo in Black Snow (1997) are majestic, biblical events comparable to the insomnia and amnesia that afflict the inhabitants of Macondo in García Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude; or, even more tangible, to thousands of notes scribbled with names of all things, that they post everywhere in their desperate attempt to halt memory loss.

The kinship of Oiwa’s painting with a typically Latin American literary genre should not suggest a reductionist or regionalist reading of his oeuvre. On contrary, among the Brazilian artists of his generation, Oscar Oiwa is certainly one who most rapidly and effectively became independent from he local context, having lived the better part of his life and built his artistic career between Europe, Japan, and the United States. Way beyond the Latin American context, the simultaneity of distinctive records in combination with the inexhaustible richness of sources and references attest to the eminently globalized and postmodern character of Oiwa’s painting – provided we view him as an artist undergoing constant, contradictory and ironical transformation, permeable to the most diverse stimuli. ^[3]

Many art writers have called his work criticism of globalization, something that has also been called the cause of 9/11. Oiwa, however, says globalization is not entirely bad. In fact, this globe-trotting artist may be the epitome of globalization; his artwork a look at our world simultaneously from the inside and out. ^[4]

Ever the ecumenical, Oiwa directs his wit to the broader political community. In G-8 Meeting, 2007, he places mascots for the most powerful countries of the world in a garden setting. They seem to have arrived by yacht. The telltale Oiwa remind us of the way the rest of the world lives with a heap of rubble huddled in the lower right corner. An elegant mansion suitable for such a summit meeting is in the background. Over all, a lovely pattern of snow dapples the sky in much the way that pattern works on Momoyama period decorative screens. The players are gathered on the lawn to have a picnic, or divide the spoils. It is a union of cartoon superheroes. Italy is represented by Valentine, an anime babe wielding a camera as if it were a machine gun, her bandolier of film and gadgets across her bare breasts. Her boots in a camouflage pattern nearly reach the bottoms of her bikini panties. Asterix le Galois, representing France, is dressed like an escape from Walkyrie. He toasts the representative from the United Kingdom, Wallace, who is eating. They have a bottle of champagne on ice. In the foreground, a demur Misha the bear from the Olympics is Russia. Then there are the bodybuilders in leotards. Japan is represented by the special effects film star Ultraman. The United States is Captain America, with big American feet, and Germany hanging on for dear life. Looking like a cousin of the American, Captain Canuck, in red and white, represents Canada. In the background, as obedient as a Zen monk, Malfada is sweeping. The Argentine comic strip began in the 60’s features Malfada, a six year old working class Argentine girl who has strong opinions about contemporary politics. This idealist with a left of center point of view dreams of working as an interpreter for the United Nations when she grows up. Here instead of playing the role, she is consigned to cleaning up after the G-8. The lone representative from Latin America, she is not a guest but a servant.^[5]

He is not the first artist to record the impact of globalization but is among the most accomplished of them not only for his considerable skill as painter but for the complexity of his view of the transformations that have occurred as a result of unbridled extreme of human ambition. He reflects on the passive acceptance of change and the gradual deformation of the environment, especially of cities, the tight-knit human-built megalopolis that refers to no specific city but instead suggest many. He does not simply scold and accuse. He shows us a world in which cultures fuse with some overpowering and contaminating others. He makes beautiful paintings about cultural collision, environmental degradation, dehumanizing slums, and violence through attrition.

Oiwa works in modules, each panel 227 x 111 centimeters. While living and working in Japan, he uses the dimensions of the traditional tatami: 91 x 182 centimeters. But when he moved to London in 1996, he translated this idea into English by opting for the size of the British sheet of plywood. He lines up the panels edge to edge, to make painting from one to six panels. The system is not only convenient for shipping and storing, it takes advantage of the benefits of a grid, giving a sense of order against which Oiwa’s panoramic and often apocalyptic vision unfurls. ^[6]

References

1. ^ Chinzei,Yoshimi (2008). Oscar Oiwa The Dreams of a Sleeping World exhibition catalogue P.80, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
2. ^ Chinzei,Yoshimi(2008). Oscar Oiwa: Painting in the Age of Globalization,Gendaikikakushitsu Publishers, Tokyo. ISBN 9784773808018
3. ^ Visconti,Jacopo Crivelli (2009). Oiwa in Wonderland, Thomas Cohn gallery exhibition catalogue P.13 , São Paulo.
4. ^ Mark, Cristoph (May 30, 2008), Daily Yomiuri P.14, Tokyo.
5. ^ Zeitlin, Marilyn A. (2008).War and (Uneasy) Peace, Thomas Cohn gallery exhibition catalogue , São Paulo.
6. ^ Zeitlin, Marilyn A. (2005).Gardening with Oscar Oiwa arte al dia, edition 108 P.42-45, March, Buenos Aires.

Books

Oiwa,Oscar (1995). Art At First Time.Skydoor Inc., Tokyo. ISBN 4915879224.

Oiwa,Oscar (2000). ART&ist,Gendaikikakushitsu Publishers,Tokyo. ISBN 4773800143

Zeitlin,Marylin (2006). Gardening with Oscar Oiwa: New Paintings, Arizona State University Art Museum ,Phoenix. ISBN 0977762424

Chinzei,Yoshimi and Yamashita,Yuji (2008). Oscar Oiwa: Painting in the Age of Globalization,Gendaikikakushitsu Publishers, Tokyo. ISBN 9784773808018

Chinzei,Yoshimi ; Bucci,Angelo and Minemura,Toshiaki(2009). Asian Kitchen, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, Tokyo/Beijing. ISBN 9784904149003

External links

• Artist Studio Homepage
• Installation work Building an Island

Bibliograph

ARATA,Tani. Virtual Art or from indian to beyond post modernism, "Oscar Satio Oiwa" catalogue ,Tokyo, June1992

FRISS-HANSEN, Dana. Review Tokyo - OSCAR SATIO OIWA, Flash Art International, Milan, October 1993

MIYATAKE, Miki. Minute detail with a light, comic touch, The Japan Times, Tokyo, October 12, 1996

MURATA, Makoto. Oscar Satio Oiwa imagination Nikkei Art, 1997 Nov. p. 88-89, Tokyo, October 1, 1997

NAGOYA, Satoru. Oscar Satio Oiwa-Via Crucis Part I, Bijutsu Techo, No. 752, p. 180, Tokyo, February 1, 1998

KIELSTRA, Martjin. Plataform 99, Canvas Foundation p. 132-133, Amsterdan, 1998

OIWA, Oscar Satio. Tokyo: City between Reality and Fiction, Mimarklik, Istambul,2000

HOGENELST, Stefan, Oosterse Klanken, VITRINE, Amsterdan, July 2000

SCHEE,Jan Sebastiaan van der. Een tuin, geen slang, wel vuilnisbakken, Decorum, Leiden, 2000

SPIJKERMAN, Sandra. Japanse Kunstenaars zijn niet typisch Japans, Kunstbeeld, Rotterdan, June 2000

ITO, Junji. Art in Front From Tokyo, Bijutsu no Mado p. 85-88, Tokyo, October 2000

NANJO, Fumio. Foreign Artists in Japan, Bien ,Tokyo, December 2001

ITOI, Kai. Figures in Landscape, ART News, New York, March 2001

ITAKURA, Kimie. A ray of hope for the next century, Asahi Evening News ,Tokyo, January 2001

LIM CJ. Fragile Earth book , London, 2001

NAGOYA, Satoru. Focus on molding,quite impressive, Mainichi Shimbun, Jan.2, Tokyo, January 2002

FALJONE, Alex.Oscar Satio Oiwa interview, Simples, São Paulo, March/April 2002

YAMASHITA, Yuji. Landscape From a Cows View, Shinbijiyutsu Shimbun,Tokyo, April 11, 2002

ONISHI, Wakato.Figurative painters toward light, Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, April 23, 2002

LEE, Mina .Now, From this Place, Here is the Museum exhibition catalogue, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, July, Shizuoka , 2002

YAMASHITA, Yuji.Sessyu x Oscar Satio Oiwa , BRUTUS,Tokyo September 1, 2002

TANIGAWA, Mami. Public Art:Japan:Practice, IS Publishimg, Shanghai, August 2003

CORKILL, Edan.Traveler's Tales , Herald Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, November 21, 2003

REED, Robert. Embark on a journey of a different kind, The Daily Yomiuri, December 11, 2003

KURAYA,Mika.Traveling: Towards the Border exhibition catalogue, The National Museum of Modern Art,Tokyo, October 2003

MAEDA, Kyoji. Clouds, Smoke & Flowers, Yomiuri Shimbun (evening),Tokyo, July 8, 2004

NISHIZAWA, Yoshiko. Clouds, Smoke & Flowers, ShinBijutsu Shimbun,Tokyo, July 11, 2004

NAGOYA, Satoru. Oscar Satio Oiwa, Fuji Television Gallery, Flash Art International,October 2004

REI, Asao. ART iT, 40 X 40 X 40 Project,Tokyo, Winter/Spring 2005

FARIAS, Agnaldo.Toppling Futures ,Thomas Cohn Galeria exhibition catalogue, March 2005

ZEITLIN, Marilyn. Gardening With Oscar Oiwa,Arte Al Dia International, Edition 108, Miami, March 2005

DAGGEN, Philippe. Satio Oiwa ou la revanche d une nature merise, Le Monde, Paris, January 7, 2006

TAKAHASHI, Shuji. HON, Oscar Oiwa Kodanshiya, Tokyo, January 2007

LAUDANNO, Claudia. Oscar Oiwa, Art Nexus,No.73, vol.6, Buenos Aires, January 2007

NILSEN, Richard.The Tempe Republic, Oiwa's Ambitious Works Offer Stark Vision of Life Tempe, Arizona, January 17, 2007

HAYAMI, Yoko. Floting Artist, Bijutsu Techo, Tokyo, September 2007

KOPLOS, Janet. Review, Art in America, New York, December, 2007

KAMIYA, Yukie Oscar Oiwa :The Dreams of a Sleeping World, ART it, Tokyo, April 17, 2008

YAMASHITA, Yuji.Oscar Oiwa :The Dreams of a Sleeping World, Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, April 24, 2008

MURATA, Makoto.Cultivate artists at public museums, Hokkaido Shimbun, Sapporo, May 12, 2008

SHINKAWA,Takashi. Oscar Oiwa :The Dreams of a Sleeping World, Weekly SPA!,Tokyo, May 20, 2008

MARK, Cristoph, Oiwa's dreams blend nightmares with hope, The Daily Yomiuri,Tokyo, May 30, 2008

Persondata
Name	Oiwa, Oscar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1965
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death