Oil on canvas with supported panel

185 × 151.5 cm. 72 7/8 × 59 5/8 in.

Signed in English and dated on the reverse
EXHIBITED
10 May – 10 Aug 2014, Makoto Saito, Ticolat Tamura, Hong Kong

PROVENANCE
Tomio Koyama Gallery Inc., Tokyo
Sansiao Gallery, Hong Kong
Private Collection, Asia

Note： A label signed by the artist is affixed on the reverse

Reshape the Memory, the Woman Awakes the God!
The Image Power of Japanese Contemporary Art Master Makoto Saito

Born in Fukuoka, Makoto Saito has caught the attention of the field of graphic design since the second half of the 1970s. He subverts traditional structural forms and adapts collage techniques to form simple and powerful paintings, becoming a leading force in the Japanese design field. In 1987, the 32 years old Daily Design Award, the top indicator of the Japanese design industry, saw its youngest winner, the 35 years old Saito. The artist became sensational domestically and was awarded the master title of the design magazine Graphis. He dismantles the plot-based narrative tradition of the painting content. By using simple and direct images to stimulate intuitive experience, he rewrites the commercial design with artistry and inversely establishes the uniqueness of his paintings. He won the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art Award in 1979 and 1987. Meanwhile, his works have been exhibited and collected by more than 30 top museums around the world, including MOMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

In 2019, Saito's solo exhibition at the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art reviewed his nearly 30 years of creation, and for the first time presented a series of celebrity portraits with the theme of “face”. The '60s Memories Bardot (Brigitte Bardot – Silver) is the leading work of the series. By combining the classic moments in memory with the relationship between “image deconstruction” and “visual perception” in graphic design, Saito constructs a painting transcending multi-dimensional space and deeply digging into the spiritual world hidden inside.

Deconstruct the Sexy Nature of the Goddess

“She is merely embodying her essence, which cannot be deprived of whether it is a blow, a quarrel, or love.”
——Simone de Beauvoir

For the French, Brigitte Bardot, nickname “B.B (Sexy Kitten) ”.like Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles, is the embodiment of post-World War II charm and the symbol of the European feminism movement during 1950s to 1960s. In1959, Beauvoir wrote an article Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome, standing with Bardot who ignored all rules and was besieged by public opinion. Saito's The ‘60s Memories Bardot (Brigitte Bardot – Silver) is based on the most widely circulated black-and-white photo that belongs to Levin's Towel series took in the same year. Based on his perspective and observation, Saito disassembled and reconstructed Bardot's most well-known portrait, allowing people to unconsciously feel the vague emotions and memories brought by inaccurate images.

This work fully embodies constructivist image expression. Firstly, Saito digitally converts the photo taken by Levin into countless round ink dots, Then according to precise calculations, different areas are deconstructed repeatedly, leaving the gap between the black ink dots reduced due to repeated superposition. The dots integrated into a further geometric composition of the image. By doing so, Saito evokes a sense of chemical reaction of new “noises” or touches, and completes sketches called “photo drawings”. Subsequently, the artist places eight different colors of oil paint in the gaps of different areas in sequence. Through this long process, the artist turns a flat photo into a layered image with rich texture. With the “dot” technology, Saito transform the portrait that originally showed sexy appearance and sexual attraction into a vivid soul that is not disturbed by external noise, is not afraid of external smears, and the impact of time.

Listen to the Self-Resonance of Images

Through the combination with new technology, Saito's role changes from a passive image “receiver” to a “speaker” who proactively attacks and conveys his new thoughts. Therefore, it stimulates a spiritual resonance with the independent spirit of Bardot in Beauvoir's writing of her, fully demonstrating Saito's keen sense of image and skill in painting, completing the attempt to explore the classic goddess, Bardot, from the outside to the inside and inward. In the current era when the superficial images accelerate their occupation in the public, Saito reveals stunning post-contemporary aesthetics by digging out the robust elements hidden deep within the image.

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,300,000 - 1,800,000
USD: 167,000 - 231,200

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,560,000