Rain: Moving from Place to Place, '90 

The figures wearing top hats appear to be flying in the air, liberated from the pull of gravity. Born in Yokohama, Hayashi Keiji conceived the idea of painting on sailcloth while gazing up at the sails of the Nippon Maru ship at the Yokohama Exotic Showcase '89. Shortly after the event closed, news of the fall of the Berlin Wall spread around the world, and the artist combined the image of flying men with the celebration of citizens who had gained their freedom. The tempera technique used here—a method of mixing pigment with a water-soluble binder like egg yolk—is the same technique employed by Italian Renaissance painters like Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci. The work combines the traditional Western techniques mastered during the artist’s study abroad in Italy with the flat decorative elements reminiscent of Japanese crafts.
(KATADA Yuko)

*You can also view a study for this work.