Wind-blown sand dunes stretch into the distance beneath a deep blue sky. A dried tree trunk, a puddle and a boat occupy the foreground. Look closely and you notice a black crow perched on the boat. As the student movements played out in the 1970s, Kokuryo Tsunero thought his students seemed alienated, even when they were in crowds, and he tried to capture this feeling in his paintings. His settings tended to be desolate landscapes of sand dunes. In this work, footprints indicate that someone has recently departed, emphasizing the loneliness. With no one visible in the painting, the alienation reflects back on the viewer. Even the boat, which has no oars, offers no means of escape. All we can do is stand helplessly among these windy dunes.
(MINAMISHIMA Ko)
Wind-blown sand dunes stretch into the distance beneath a deep blue sky. A dried tree trunk, a puddle and a boat occupy the foreground. Look closely and you notice a black crow perched on the boat. As the student movements played out in the 1970s, Kokuryo Tsunero thought his students seemed alienated, even when they were in crowds, and he tried to capture this feeling in his paintings. His settings tended to be desolate landscapes of sand dunes. In this work, footprints indicate that someone has recently departed, emphasizing the loneliness. With no one visible in the painting, the alienation reflects back on the viewer. Even the boat, which has no oars, offers no means of escape. All we can do is stand helplessly among these windy dunes.
(MINAMISHIMA Ko)