Jungle Politics
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Mindy Solomon Gallery is pleased to present Jungle Politics, Kobayashi’s fourth exhibition with the gallery since his representation began in 2013. A fastidious painter with a unique style that includes meticulous brush work, Kobayashi continues to investigate a common leit-motif for this exhibition.
“Eyes are a recurring theme in my work. The paintings in this show are all looking clockwise around the room and at each other. A standoff ensues where each painting is waiting on the movement of the one beside it to decide their own direction. However, this moment of tension is one of reservation: an awareness of the other while contemplating the self. It’s neither instigative nor passive, but rather it’s outward looking as well as inward.”
Introspection and self-reflection permeate the paintings in this series. Shown as two separate groupings, one 48” x 50” in scale, the other 16” x 18”, each painting appears to radiate out from the center “eye”. Soft vibrational colors applied in a circular fashion that emphasize the center of each painting, like a spiritual mandala. Vibrant oranges, hazy greens, floating blues; each image is a transcendental experience into an unknown realm while the all-knowing eye watches.
With this newest exhibition, Kobayashi continues to prove why he is one of the most significant abstract painters of his generation. With gentle persistence he continues to pursue truth through brush mark.
About Osamu Kobayashi
Osamu Kobayashi (b. 1984, Columbia, SC) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He has exhibited widely in the US and abroad including solo exhibitions at Hollis Taggart Gallery (New York, NY), Mindy Solomon Gallery (Miami, Fl), BEERS London (London, UK), Dirimart (Istanbul, TR), and A+B Gallery (Brescia, IT). He has participated in group exhibitions at Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Lissone, IT), Albertz Benda (Los Angeles, CA), Blindspot Gallery (Hong Kong, CN), and the Columbia Museum of Art (Columbia, SC).
In 2013, Kobayashi was awarded the Hassam, Speicher, Betts, and Symons Purchase Fund from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2021, he was awarded a NYFA Artist Fellowship. His work has been reviewed by Artsy, Whitewall Magazine, and Hyperallergic among other publications.
