Umetsu Yoichi: Quasi-Applied Art (Interior Design, Furosaki Folding Screens, Drawings, Prints, Ceramic Panels)

The gallery’s name, A/D, stands for Art & Design. While paintings, sculpture, and other independent works of art were once called “pure art”, and the art referred to as “applied art” which combines decorative design and aesthetic flavor with practical objects, was considered somehow lesser than pure art.
That is, however, no longer the case. Much of the contemporary art available has now become a lifestyle commodity. I don’t see this current state of affairs as either good or bad. At the very least, even under these circumstances, it’s possible for artists to maintain their inquisitiveness and continue to create, attracting enthusiastic audiences.

This exhibition focuses on the printmaking and ceramics I have been working on intensively since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Both of these adapt the studio principles of the printing and ceramics industries to art. Furthermore, I apply the knowledge I have gained from each medium to different formats in an interdisciplinary manner, allowing my works to evolve and expand in a spiraling manner. While none of these pieces may have much practical use, I have recently begun to undertake experiments that go beyond the realm of furnishings, such as bar interior design.
In that sense, the works on display in this exhibition could perhaps be best referred to as “quasi-applied art”. In other words, my current workspace exists precisely because of the surplus born from the incompleteness of either “purity” or “practicality.”

Umetsu Yoichi