"Letters to Tadanori Yokoo"
Writer Profile
Tadayasu Sakai
Other : Director of Setagaya Art MuseumKeio University alumni
Tadayasu Sakai
Other : Director of Setagaya Art MuseumKeio University alumni
2020/01/08
This book is a collection of essays and interviews I have written about Tadanori Yokoo.
The earliest is a catalog text for a two-person exhibition with American painter Paul Davis (2001), while the most recent is a piece (2019) touching on the strange connection between Mr. Yokoo and Renzaburo Shibata—known as "Shibaren"—who took the world by storm with his historical novel "Nemuri Kyoshiro." All were written upon request, across various media and themes, and the length of the manuscripts varies.
Looking back, I feel as though I was painting a portrait of this artist each time. It may sound strange to say so myself, but while the dimensions differ, the style is unmistakably mine, depicting the artist in his everyday attire rather than in a formal portrait. None of them are elaborate, realistic oil paintings; instead, they are more like sketches.
However, Mr. Yokoo is an artist who, even now, continues to emit smoke like an active volcano. Therefore, he must have a vivid and lively expression—that was my intention as I fulfilled the requests.
Having accumulated a fair number of works (manuscripts), I was given the opportunity to publish them, much like holding a solo exhibition. Fortunately, we were able to include Mr. Yokoo's works as illustrations, making it visually enjoyable as well. Additionally, since there was a relatively long interview, I decided to transcribe and include it so that readers could understand the artist's own thoughts. As such, I would be happy if this could be seen as a somewhat whimsical form of authorial critique.
In fact, Mr. Yokoo is a truly versatile person. He paints, creates prints and posters, and sometimes even writes novels. In between, he gives lectures and appears on television, and then, to strongly reaffirm that he is, after all, a painter, he deliberately forces himself to perform public paintings. It is no exaggeration to say that this book is an inquiry into the source of such creative energy, alongside the artist's way of life.
The reason I included "—Letters" in the title is that, in addition to letters addressed to the artist, there were several essays written in the form of letters.
*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.