Kurata's paintings translate his thoughts and experiences of growing up in America
Art4d.Asia has posted some new paintings by Hiro Kurata. Hiro has recently produced a beautiful series of paintings for his show "Home Field Disadvantage" at MotusFort Tokyo.
hiro kurata in studio
“As I was walking a ribbon of highway, I saw above me an endless skyway. I saw below me a golden valley. This land was made for you and me,” This Land Is Your Land, Woody Guthrie (1940). Hiro Kurata's recent series of paintings, “This Land Was Your Land,” reference the popular Woody Guthrie song in title and notions of self-identity amplified by living on foreign shores in imagery. Kurata, a Japanese born artist currently living and working in New York City, described that, for him, the song “was supposed to be a song about appreciating America, but as I started to grow up I realized that the land really belonged to someone else, rather than people there now...some things used to belong to someone, and now it belongs to someone else, and in the future it will be owned by another someone. Nothing will stay the same, it is all temporary, and therefore makes it precious.” The final stanza of Guthrie's lyrical take on America mirror Kurata's hesitations, stating “In the squares of the city, in the shadow of the steeple, near the relief office - I see my people, and some are grumblin', and some are wonderin', if this land's still made for you and me.” Read More @ Art4d.Asia