Hi, there.
Cornus controversa (Giant dogwood) leaves unfurled beautifully. The young green leaves always please the eyes and give a fresh feeling. I’m looking forward to the coming season as the leaves of other plants will gradually unfurl. Our garden will look more vibrant as deciduous trees start to turn green again. All those things make me motivated to do garden work.
Damien Hirst, Cherry Blossoms
Last week, I went back to my hometown in Saitama Prefecture. After I had done some stuff, I went to see the special exhibition “Damien Hirst, Cherry Blossoms.” I visited The National Art Center, Tokyo after a long time, and I saw a row of cherry blossom trees from the large glass window. It was such an amazing view.
I entered the exhibition with high expectations for “Cherry Blossoms.”
24 paintings from the series of 107 “Cherry Blossoms” canvases by Damien Hirst, the pre-eminent British contemporary artist, were on display. “The Cherry Blossoms are about beauty and life and death. They are extreme―there’s something almost tacky about them,” Hirst said about the series. The irregularly arranged dots drawn by oil paintings with thick brushstrokes, as if the paint had been thrown onto the canvas in places.
I was overwhelmed by the hugeness of his paintings lined up in the white, high-ceilinged exhibition room. I couldn’t take my eyes off the Cherry Blossoms drawn dynamically. Each work has its title, such as “Cherry Blossoms in Festival” or “Cherry Blossoms in Summer,” and all have subtle differences. No two Cherry Blossoms are alike, just like trees in nature. The paintings are abstract, and which allows his Cherry Blossoms to look so natural.
Cherry blossoms last for a very short time between the blooming and falling, which is so fleeting that you can’t see them in any other plant. Hirst’s saying “beauty, life, and death” are all embodied in cherry blossoms. The reason why Japanese people feel a bit sentimental when they see cherry blossoms is, I think, that they identify their own life with the life of cherry blossoms.
We need to keep refining our taste as the person who takes care of plants and understand the plant life cycle. After I am emotionally moved by the paintings, I hope to use those feelings to create a space that moves people’s hearts.
*Photography was allowed in this exhibition.