Japan paintings and drawings by Agamemnon Otero

SERENITY SURROUNDED BY ELECTRICAL BONDAGE, A SUMMARY OF MODERN JAPAN

Agamemnon first fell in love with Japan in 2006, whilst visiting on his belated honeymoon. He was left romanced by the Japanese idealistic attention to detail and minimalist aesthetics. In the summer of 2009 he was fortunate to return with the art crew for the Fuji Rock Festival - Japan's Glastonbury - held in the mountains of Naeba. On this occasion, he took in what clutters Japan and embraced it artistically. He immersed himself in the cool mountain streams
and hot springs, imbibing on the unfiltered wonder that is all things Japanese. At the festival, he painted the cloudy mountains , including their distinctive orange and white stripy pylons. He returned to Kyoto and painted the temples , incorporating the telegraph poles and the multitude of electrical wires that inevitably form part of any urban Japanese sky view. The resulting serenity surrounded by electrical bondage is a summary of modern day Japan. This solo
exhibition shows artworks produced from his first and second visit.


"His Franz Marc like works are deeply sensual.
The confectionary colours disguise a metaphysical enchantment.”
Tracey O’Shaughnessy - art critic - The Republican-American, Connecticut USA

"Otero explores the interaction of colour and form. His studies seem ethereal. They pulsate and shift from abstract to representational. The subject is familiar but his portrayal is personal and insightful."
Tony Carretta - curator - New Arts Gallery, Connecticut USA

"Otero’s paintings carefully balance an emotional element with simplified compositions having enhanced graphic qualities. This simplification of form and colour serves to render his specific subjects in a more universal light. His paintings are less mechanical recordings of these subjects and more iconic representations of a larger whole. The overall effect of Otero’s paintings is to share with the viewer the intensity of his life experience within a joyful and engaged pictorial space."
Robert Colburn - assistant curator - Farnsworth Museum, Maine USA