Tanaka Raou: "Maelstrom"
Raou Tanaka — Artist page
Biography, available works and enquiries
Gallery Seek presents Maelstrom, a new work by painter Tanaka, Raou.
Executed in mixed media on panel at 20F (727 × 606 mm), Maelstrom takes its title from the great oceanic vortex of Nordic legend. In this work, the quality Tanaka has long pursued — what he calls the “seeping of life” — coalesces into a sustained, turbulent intensity.
In 2014, Tanaka won the overall championship at the ISCA Convention, the international caricature competition held in Nevada, USA, earning induction into its Masters Class Hall of Fame. Holding that title, he nonetheless turned to painting in 2016 in pursuit of a freer mode of expression.
“I paint animals as my subject because I am drawn to the purity of how they exist and the vitality of their movement. I work so that the breath and lingering motion of a living creature can be felt in the direction of an animal’s gaze and in the unpainted spaces of the canvas.” — Tanaka Raou
At the centre of a vortex rendered in acrylic — a medium whose tendency to bleed produces passages of particular luminosity — the contour of life holds firm. The breath that resonates through the work’s open ground invites the viewer’s imagination into the composition.
“No matter how niche the world, if you are utterly compelling, there will always be someone who is moved.” The work bears out Tanaka’s own words in the force of its presence.
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Work Details
Title: Maelstrom
Artist: Tanaka Raou
Size: 20F (727 × 606 mm)
Medium: mixed media on panel
Enquiries: Gallery Seek (Caretta Shiodome B1F).