小島祐一を8つの作品から見る Yuichi Kojima Through Eight Works
現在開催中の個展『存在の残響、筆のはからい』から、BIOMEがあらためてご覧いただきたい8作品を選びました。
From the current solo exhibition “Sonzai no Zankyō, Fude no Hakarai” (Echoes of Presence, The Workings of the Brush), BIOME has selected eight works that we would like to bring into focus once again.
まず、数量的にも圧倒的に多いのが子供の人物像。乳児の頃から少年期まで長きにわたり描き続けています。
Among Kojima’s works, portraits of children are particularly numerous. He has continued to paint them over many years, from infancy through boyhood.
４つの作品を時計回りに見てゆきましょう。
Let us look at four of these works, moving clockwise.
「母子 えほん」2013年｜木炭・手漉き紙｜65 × 50cm｜額装264,000円（税込）
母と子が一冊の本を見る場面。人物を輪郭で囲い込むのではなく、木炭の濃淡と何度も重なる線によって、二人の身体が一つのまとまりにも、それぞれの人物にも見えてきます。油彩とは異なる、小島祐一の「線」を見る一作です。
“Boshi: Ehon” (Mother and Child: Picture Book), 2013 | Charcoal on handmade paper | 65 × 50 cm | Framed | JPY 264,000, tax included
A mother and child look together at a single book. Rather than enclosing the figures within fixed contours, Kojima builds them through shifts in charcoal tone and repeated, overlapping lines. The two bodies appear at once as a single grouping and as two distinct individuals. The work offers a view of Kojima’s use of line, quite different from what we encounter in his oil paintings.
「ねんね」2014年｜油彩・板｜16 × 23cm｜額装143,000円（税込）
小さな画面。赤と黒に近い色が大きく占め、その間に眠る顔が現れます。細部を描き込むよりも、色そのものによって人物との距離をつくっている作品です。小品でありながら、小島氏の油彩の色と絵具の重なりを近い距離で見ることができます。
“Nenne” (Sleeping), 2014 | Oil on panel | 16 × 23 cm | Framed | JPY 143,000, tax included
A small painting dominated by reds and near-blacks, from which the sleeping face emerges. Rather than relying on detailed description, the painting creates a sense of distance from the figure through color itself. Despite its modest scale, it allows us to see at close range the depth of Kojima’s oil colors and the layering of paint.
「休息」1996年｜油彩・紙｜67 × 50cm｜額装605,000円（税込）
本展のなかでも初期にあたる1996年の作品です。人物の姿は確認できますが、身体の輪郭より先に、赤、橙、緑、褐色の筆跡が画面を占めます。描写と色面の境界がまだ定まらないところに、この時期の小島作品のおもしろさがあります。
近作と並べることで、30年ほど続いてきた人物への向き合い方も見えてきます。
“Kyūsoku” (Rest), 1996 | Oil on paper | 67 × 50 cm | Framed | JPY 605,000, tax included
Dating from 1996, this is one of the earliest works in the exhibition. The figure is clearly present, yet before its contours fully register, the eye encounters passages of red, orange, green, and brown. Part of the interest of Kojima’s work from this period lies in the unresolved boundary between depiction and fields of color. Seen alongside his more recent paintings, it also reveals something of the way Kojima’s engagement with the human figure has developed over nearly three decades.
「頬杖をつく少年」2022年｜油彩・キャンバス｜65 × 53cm｜額なし594,000円（税込）
深い青や緑のなかから、少年の顔と手が見えてきます。顔だけが明瞭になるのではなく、衣服や背景と人物が暗い色の中でつながっています。そのなかで、頬杖をつく姿勢と視線が人物の存在を伝えています。そこでが輝くような彩色は光により圧巻となります。小島氏が人物画について語る「眼差し、存在、人生」という関心を、現在に近い作品から見ることのできる一作です。
“Hōzue o Tsuku Shōnen” (Boy Resting His Chin on His Hand), 2022 | Oil on canvas | 65 × 53 cm | Unframed | JPY 594,000, tax included
The boy’s face and hands emerge from deep blues and greens. His face is not isolated with sharp clarity; instead, figure, clothing, and background remain connected within the surrounding darkness. His posture, with his chin resting on one hand, and the direction of his gaze give the figure its presence. The luminous touches of color become especially striking as they catch the light. It is a recent work in which we can see Kojima’s continuing concern with what he describes in portraiture as “gaze, presence, and life.”
人物を描くことから、場所を描くことへ。
小島祐一が長く描いてきたもう一つの対象が、京都・嵯峨野です。観光地としての京都ではなく、田畑、農道、水路、樹木、人が暮らし手を入れてきた土地を繰り返し描いています。
From painting people to painting place.
Another subject Kojima has returned to over many years is Sagano in Kyoto. His interest is not in Kyoto as a tourist destination, but in its fields, farm roads, waterways, trees, and a landscape continually shaped by those who have lived and worked there.
「嵯峨野の秋」2003年｜木炭・チョーク・膠・亜麻仁油・天然樹脂・手漉き紙・パネル｜37 × 135cm｜額装1,100,000円（税込）
横へ長く延びる画面を、無数の線が走ります。
田畑や道を写し取るというよりも、土地の起伏や方向を線で確かめているような作品です。素材も、木炭、チョーク、膠、亜麻仁油、天然樹脂と複数に及びます。2003年。小島氏が京都へ移り、嵯峨野を繰り返し描き始めた時期の仕事です。
“Sagano no Aki” (Autumn in Sagano), 2003 | Charcoal, chalk, animal glue, linseed oil, natural resin, handmade paper on panel | 37 × 135 cm | Framed | JPY 1,100,000, tax included
Countless lines run across the long horizontal format.
Rather than simply recording fields and roads, the work seems to use line to test and trace the contours and directions of the land itself. Its materials are equally varied, including charcoal, chalk, animal glue, linseed oil, and natural resin. Made in 2003, it belongs to the period after Kojima moved to Kyoto and began repeatedly drawing and painting Sagano.
「嵯峨野」2007年｜木炭・チョーク・膠・亜麻仁油・天然樹脂・手漉き紙・パネル｜50 × 195cm｜額装2,200,000円（税込）
今回選んだ8点のなかで最も大きな作品です。黒い線が画面の端から端まで交差し、風景を見る視線そのものが移動していくようです。「場所を描いた絵」として一望するより、近づいて線を追い、離れて全体を見る。その往復によって見え方が変わります。
本展の嵯峨野作品のなかでも、実作で大きさを体験していただきたい一点です。
“Sagano,” 2007 | Charcoal, chalk, animal glue, linseed oil, natural resin, handmade paper on panel | 50 × 195 cm | Framed | JPY 2,200,000, tax included
This is the largest of the eight selected works. Black lines cross the surface from edge to edge, giving the sense that the act of looking itself is moving through the landscape. Rather than taking it in at once as a depiction of a place, the work invites us to move closer and follow the lines, then step back to see the whole. Its appearance changes through that repeated movement between near and far. Among the Sagano works in this exhibition, this is one in which the physical scale is particularly important to experience in person.
「嵯峨野の冬 水路」2024年｜油彩・キャンバス｜33 × 46cm｜額なし352,000円（税込）
画面の中央を水路が奥へ向かいます。白く反射する水面、その両側に広がる冬の田畑。灰色を中心としながら、筆の方向によって地面、水、遠景が描き分けられています。2000年代の嵯峨野作品と比べると、同じ土地を描き続けることが、そのまま同じ描き方を繰り返すことではないこともわかります。
“Sagano no Fuyu: Suiro” (Winter in Sagano: Waterway), 2024 | Oil on canvas | 33 × 46 cm | Unframed | JPY 352,000, tax included
A waterway runs from the center of the painting into the distance. Its pale, reflective surface cuts through winter fields on either side. Although the palette is centered on greys, changes in the direction of the brush distinguish earth, water, and distant landscape. Compared with Kojima’s Sagano works from the 2000s, it also shows that returning to the same place does not mean repeating the same way of painting it.
「嵯峨野の春」2003年｜油彩・キャンバス｜46 × 53cm｜額装456,500円（税込）
手前には大きく田畑が広がり、中央には小さな二人の人物、その先には家々と山があります。画面右を縦断する一本の樹木によって、風景を遠くから眺めるだけではなく、自分もその場所に立っているような距離が生まれています。2003年の嵯峨野。後年の作品と同じ場所を描いた連作として見ることもできる一作です。
“Sagano no Haru” (Spring in Sagano), 2003 | Oil on canvas | 46 × 53 cm | Framed | JPY 456,500, tax included
Fields spread across the foreground, with two small figures near the center and houses and hills beyond. A single tree running vertically along the right side of the composition changes our relationship to the landscape: rather than viewing it only from a distance, we seem to stand within the place ourselves. Painted in Sagano in 2003, the work can also be seen as part of a continuing body of paintings of the same area that extends into Kojima’s later years.
人物と風景。一見すると異なる二つの題材ですが、今回選んだ8作品を通して見ると、小島祐一が身近にある人や場所を、長い時間をかけて繰り返し見てきたことがわかります。制作年代をまたいで並べることで、変わってきたものと、変わらず続いているもの。その両方をご覧いただければと思います。
People and landscapes may at first appear to be two very different subjects. Yet across these eight works, we can see how Yuichi Kojima has returned again and again, over many years, to the people and places closest to him. By bringing together works from different periods, we hope this selection offers a view of both what has changed in his painting and what has continued throughout.
画像では伝わりにくい絵具の重なりや表面、木炭の線、作品そのものの大きさもあります。会期中は、ぜひ実作をご覧ください。掲載作品はいずれも現在BIOMEにて展示・販売しています。作品の状態、額装、配送、追加画像などについては、BIOMEまでお問い合わせください。（artroom@biomekobe.com）
The layering and surface of the paint, the charcoal lines, and the physical scale of the works are difficult to convey fully on screen. We invite you to see the original works during the exhibition. All eight works featured here are currently on view and available through BIOME. For further images or information regarding condition, framing, shipping, or purchase, please contact us.（artroom@biomekobe.com）