Form  / Light / Shadow　【You Tube】
Aishu Gen Exhibition　　
2021  リーガロイヤルギャラリー
https://youtu.be/AfteZTw3ZA0

Encounter with Tsuguro Ito, a teacher　(studied under him from 1980)

　Around 1976? I read an article in the newspaper about the Namba Yomiuri Cultural Center and saw the name of Motosaburo Nishimura , so I thought he was a Shinseisaku painter and went there to learn portrait drawing. After a couple of years of sketching, I decided I wanted to learn oil painting. I asked Mr. Nishimura about it, and he told me about a special monthly oil painting class of Tsuguro Ito on the same day of the week from 1:00 p.m. I accompanied Mr. Nishimura to greet him in 1980. Mr. Ito asked me, "Do you like painting? I said,

"Yes, I like it.

I have never painted a full-scale oil painting, but I have been drawing portraits for about three years with Mr. Nishimura. He said, "You can start painting now, or you can just watch. He spoke to me in a friendly Osaka dialect. You can come next month. I decided to join him on the spot. Two or three months after I started working with him, He completed a mural painting for Takashimaya Department Store and unveiled it to the public. When I saw his mural painting (a series of festivals along the Nankai Line) in front of the Takashimaya Department Store in Namba, I was very surprised and was deeply moved with the class members. Forty years have passed since then, but every time I go to Namba, I greet his works and ask him, "How are you, Sensei? and take my time to look at his works before returning home.

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Since studying under Mr. Ito, I gradually took on the challenges of the Kansai Shinseisaku and Shinseisaku Exhibition. I was free to create my own works. Mr. Ito did not touch my work at all, and I painted freely. At that time, I gradually came up with the composition of a design-like style, and I started to wonder about the basics of what I wanted to draw, such as, "What is the artistic golden section? I thought that I did not understand the basics of painting, so I studied under the same teacher, Tsuguro Ito. I then discussed this with Kimiko Yamaki, who also studied under Tsuguro Ito. In 1986, I decided to take a correspondence course at Musashino Art College (Musabi), where I learned the spirit of craftsmanship from the quarterly magazine "Ginka" as well as the "art of making things.
Tthrough Musabi correspondence course.I studied in depth the things that interest me, such as "aesthetics, drawing, morphology, color science, ethnography, Japanese history, and world history. In particular, the study of "achromatic colors" in color science has become a lifelong theme in my current style. When I was studying art and morphology, I learned about Bauhaus and learned that there was a follow-up to Kandinsky's "Point, Line, Surface. I went to a secondhand bookstore in Umeda and bought a copy of Kandensky "Point, Line, Surface," "Art and the Artist," and "Theory of Abstract Art," translated by Hideo Nishida, and read it thoroughly. When I was a student of Musabi News Letter, Mr. Ito's foot pain became so bad that he had to stop his special class in Namba. Ms. Yoshimura said, "Why don't you come to my father's studio in Yama Ashiya and work on your plaster sketching project? I still cannot forget the impression I got when I visited his studio for the first time. It was a house with a magnificent gate and a Jizo statue on the earthen wall covered with splendid tiles. When I later asked Mr. and Mrs. Ito about the house, they replied, "The architect of the house was the famous Yoshiro Taniguchi. After the war, when there was no place to paint, poet Iku Takenaka and Ryohei Koiso, Gutai artists Saburo Murakami and Kazuo Shiraga,were there and the Shinseisaku-ha Association became a large group, so the Japanese Painting Department of Shinseisaku was divided and became the Soga-kai, and Uemura Shoko and others studied at this studio, The models would sleep in the loft above the studio instead of going back home. His wife, Hatsujo Ito, said with a smile, Ms Yamaki and you are Tsuguro's last disciples," .When I heard that, I thought to myself, "How amazing it must have been in the old days! I can't believe that masters used to make sketches and oil paintings here. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I could not express it in words. I was instructed by his wife, Hatsujo, to do plaster sketches for the Mousavi News Letter. After about half a year,. Hatsujo and their daughter, Yasuko Yoshimura, told me that they had a model who came once a month on Thursdays. Mr. Tsuguro Ito will comeand you will study with him on Thursdays. I was very happy to receive such kind words from them. I have been working with him for about three years, making art works, sketching portraits, and making croquis. Thanks to him, I was also immersed in abstract painting, but when I was asked to paint pictures (ink painting) on the Ruritoh at Obakuzan Manpukuji Temple, I managed to complete it. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Tsuguro and Hatsujo Ito and Mr. and
Mrs. Isao and Yasuko Yoshimura. I am very grateful to them. About 20 years ago, Mr. Isao Yoshimura, Yasuko's husband, invited me to help him establish the Osaka branch of UNICEF. I am still participating in UNICEF activities today.

Encounter with Mr. Sadamasa Motonaga (2001)

I met Mr. Sadamasa Motonaga by chance. I had been exhibiting my works in the Kansai Shinseisaku since 1984, and after about 10 years, I started to see various group exhibitions. I was not impressed by the same style of works when I saw various group exhibitions. I was not impressed anymore. It was during this time that I visited the Musabi Osaka Branch Exhibition at the Asahi Culture Center in Higobashi, Osaka. On my way home from the exhibition, I went to the Asahi Culture Center office and picked up a pamphlet about learning Chinese, When I picked up a pamphlet, I noticed the "Abstract Painting" class by Sadamasa Motonaga. I saw once the "Sadamasa Motonaga Exhibition" at the Mie Prefectural Museum of Art a long time ago, I was impressed by how free and fun his paintings were. I was interested in "What is Abstract Painting?
I had been interested in abstract painting for a long time, but I had to give it up because my work schedule did not allow me to attend the class. However, the day I visited the culture center happened to be a Saturday when there was an abstract painting class. I asked the office to allow me to observe the abstract painting class, and my curiosity was piqued. It was a shocking sight to me. The students spread out their own works (from thumb holes to sizeF100-150, etc.) all over the floor, and everyone surrounded them. The teacher was quietly looking at them and commenting on them. I was surprised at the large number of paintings and the fact that everyone had to bring their own work by the next class day. I, as an oil painter, could not have thought of this. When the class was over and everone was getting ready to go home The teacher asked me in a friendly manner, "Are you painting?" I said, "Yes, I do, Recently I am not impressed by various paintings, and I don't know what I should paint anymore. I am surprised at how many paintings everyone has brought in.
The teacher said “If you are not sure what to draw, put some ink in a bucket and dip a rope in it. and then just flick, flick, flick on the canvas without thinking. Just do it." "Everyone uses the cheap cotton cloths that art students use, sold at the cloth shop in the Honmachi Semba Center Building," he said., so it is light and they bring many paintings. Painting is something you have to enjoy. He answered my questions in a kind and polite manner. I was very happy to see him. After the class I was walking with the teacher and the class members and they went straight into a bar with me where the people in the class were having a drinking party called a review meeting.
. I introduced myself and said, "I studied under Mr. Tsuguro Ito, and I am challenging Kansai Shinseisaku and Shinseisaku Exhibition. Motonaga asked, "Are you studying under Mr. Ito? He is a member of the Ashiya Art Association.
He is a pleasant person.
I said I painted 3 F 100 size paintings at once for an exhibition, but it took two to three months to dry the paintings.
The people in the class painted with free materials. Some of them even made their own homemade paints from vegetables from their own fields. I was so impressed by their paintings at first, but when I thought of abstract paintings. I couldn't help but ask myself, "Is that a painting? No, it is not a painting. I was even denying that it was a painting. I was in a constant state of self-questioning on the train ride back home from each class. I was in a constant state of self-doubt. About 8 or 9 months later, the teacher told me, "The exhibition is about to start, so bring something with you. I was told to bring something with me for the exhibition. I brought five F 6 size paintings because I liked design. I was told, "They are beautifully drawn, but they are just a little bit too beautiful. There is no impression. Do you have any failed ones? Bring them next time. The next time I brought my work, the teacher said, "It's interesting, isn't it? You have a good taste, but if you select one yourself and bring it to me, you won't need a teacher. Next time, bring me a masterpiece like this one. But at that time, I had no idea how good I was. （Why is such a picture interesting?) But as I looked at other people's works and unusual techniques I gradually came to realize that he is always talking about the importance of the space on the canvas.. “Don't imitate others! My style is first-class! An inch ahead is light! I have been creating my works with these words of teacher's in mind. Thanks to these words, my work has developed into today's style based on the concept of "shape, light, and shadow.
Water work

Encounter with Zen

　My family's family temple is Mampukuji Temple, the head temple of the Ōbaku school of Zen Buddhism, located in Uji City, Kyoto. Mampukuji Temple is one of the three schools of Zen Buddhism along with the Rinzai and Soto schools. The temple was originally called the Obaku school of the Rinzai sect. In 1876 (9th year of Meiji), the name of the school was changed to the Obaku school in order to carry on the teachings of Zen master Ingen. When Japan was closed to the outside world, Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa wanted to resume trade between Japan and China. The trade of merchants who permanently resided in Japan as overseas Chinese was prosperous. Shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna had an audience with the famous Zen monk Ingen Zenji, who served as their spiritual guide, In 1661, he built a Chinese-style temple in Uji Obaku, Kyoto. My parents also came to Japan as overseas Chinese, and on the third anniversary of my father's departure (1975), we built a cemetery at Manpukuji Temple. After visiting my father's grave, it has become a regular custom to visit the "Daeung Ho Den" on the temple grounds to see the main statue of the Buddha, "Sakyamuni Nyorai". The temple's main sanctuary was the Daeungyeong-ho-den (Great Vault Hall).
I was impressed by Unsui's agile behavior and his silent work. I wondered, "What is the teaching of Zen? I don't know anything about my family's temple. I asked the Zen master who was in the temple. He told me that there is a "Zen University" that I should join in order to learn about Manpukuji Temple. I joined. I have received teachings from various Zen masters at Zen University, and now, more than 40 years later, I am a member of Zen University. In the year 2000, I received the ordination of zen priesthood. In 2007, on the anniversary of Ingen's death, Zen masters Tatsumei Akamatsu and Yoshikatsu Ienaga asked me to paint pictures on the "Three Ruri Lanterns" in the Kaisandō Hall!
I was astonished! I had never painted a full-scale ink painting before, and since the painting had to be left to the next generation, I was very worried. But I I decided to do it because I felt I had been given this opportunity. I have been researching achromatic colors for many years, and Zen Master Akamatsu made me realize that the ultimate achromatic colors are "water" and "sumi ink".

At my family temple, I had an encounter with "Zen".

I had been interested in the philosophy of Taoism and the Tao of Laozi,Shozo Kashima, Kitaro Nishida, D. T. Suzuki, Kodo Sawaki, Sodo Yamakawa, Koshu Itabashi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Hekiganroku, and Mumonkan. and I had been listening to them and reading their books through TV and internet. Rather, I thought I understood them as if I had understood them myself. There are two words in the Zen language, "Furyu-moji" and "Kyogai-betsuden". It was more than ten years ago that I truly realized the meaning of these characters myself, On April 3, the anniversary of Ingen' Zenji's founding I was commissioned by Zen masters Akamatsu and Ienaga to paint pictures on the Rurito(lapis lazuli lanterns) in the Kaisando-Higashi-Do (Important Cultural Property),
At that time I was working on a container of art sponsored by Kobe City as a contemporary art project. I was awarded a prize in the "Kobe Biennale 2007," an international competition to create an artwork using a single container I was given the chance to try my first outdoor installation in the main event.
When I received the request from the two Zen masters, I was in the midst of abandoning my previous style of painting, and was absorbed in abstract painting under the guidance of Sadamasa Motonaga.
I had never painted a full-scale ink painting before and I was not confident that it would be a work of art that would have to be left to the generations to come. I told the master that I was not confident and that he should find someone else to do it. He told me, "Well, take your time," and he would not accept my offer. I thought it would be the last time, so I went up to the temple in the bitter cold of February to refuse to paint pictures.. Then I found that the feet of Unsui, who was doing the work in his sandals, were swollen and pustules were coming out of them. It was not just one person, but all the other Unsui had the same problem. When I saw this, I suddenly realized, "This is the kind of Zen to improve oneself, which is always taught at Zen University. I was not alone, but so were the other Unsui. I went to meet Zen Master Akamatsu and asked him to let me paint, no matter how many years it would take. I asked him to teach me about the world of ink and water, Zen words, and so on.
Akamatsu Zen masters taught me models, the meaning of Zen words, haiku, etc., and the people around me taught me daily activities, manners, tea ceremony, etc. For the creation of Ruri Lanterns, I re-read various books, and never in my painting life have I been so seriously involved with Zen. It took me three years to complete the work. Until today, I have continued to face my own paintings and have been obsessed with achromatic colors. After the completion of this Ruri Lantern project, Zen Master Akamatsu reminded me that the basis of achromatic colors is "water" and "sumi" (India ink). Since then, more than ten years have passed, but every time I visit the Zen temple, I am confronted with the painting of the Ruri lanterns in the Kaisando-Hall.
I have been standing quietly in my Zen meditation facing the painting of Ruri Lanterns in the Kaisandō, imagining that this work of art will be seen by people for generations to come, I feel so happy that I cannot express how precious my work is, I feel indescribably happy and grateful.

What I think about my encounters with my teachers

Mr. Tsuguro Ito and his wife Hatsujo taught me that art is "to acquire humanity. Mr. Sadamasa Motonaga and his wife Etsuko Nakatsuji taught me the joy of painting and the pleasure of drawing. Currently, I am studying at the "Contemporary Art Study Group" which Etsuko Nakatsuji presides over. I had been involved in the production of pictures on the Ruri lanterns at Manpukuji Temple, my family's temple, Through Zen University, I have learned from various Zen masters about "the heart of Zen," "people," and "the meaning of karma. (what is the relationship with people)" Today, I am able to do what I love with the help of my family, my teachers, friends, and acquaintances, I believe that this is also a result of the relationships I have with people. I am grateful for these connections and I am grateful to all of you for your support.

Aishu Gen