Harry Mafuji さんの個展準備。

Harry Mafuji さんの個展準備を進めている、絵がエジンバラから送られて来て、額屋さんに持って行きマットの調整などをして貰っている。

先日、個展準備に関する遣り取りで Mafuji さんからメールが送られて来て、その中に、彼の若い頃からの美術遍歴を述べた文章があったので彼の許可を得てここに転記する。読み易い英語で書かれていて内容が興味深いので是非皆さんに読んで頂きたいと思った次第である。彼がイギリスに渡った頃の美術学生が如何に(コンセプチュアル・アートと言う)概念的なものに取り憑かれていたか、アートの意味を求めての彼自身の遍歴、それから、担当教授の美術観に合わせて博士論文を書き直すことを拒否し、エジンバラ大学の博士課程を退学したことが書かれている。淡々と書かれているが、彼のこれまでの人生が集約されていて興味深い。

When I was a young boy in Japan I realised that I was uneasy to communicate via spoken language. I decided to become an artist, so I didn’t need to communicate with other people in spoken word.

When I moved to London I studied Fine Art at Middlesex University. At that time there was a strong ideology called conceptual art. So most art students rejected the use of a paintbrush. Everybody was following conceptualism – so I did too, unfortunately. I went to New York Art College as part of a student exchange scheme and discovered that the teaching there was very traditional. I was so disappointed that I left and returned to Middlesex University.

What is art, I asked myself, what is the meaning of art? Then I went to Chelsea College of Fine Art in London. Again I was badly disappointed because the teaching was very focused on conceptualism. So I decided to open an experimental art gallery, to observe other artists. But I couldn’t get an answer to my question “What is art?” because most of the artists were unthinking about what they were doing.

So when I was given an opportunity to study art history at Edinburgh University, I took it. After completing my MSc I started on a PhD to find out what is art, the meaning of art. I realised that I was beginning to understand more about art. I wrote my PhD thesis and had to have a viva exam with an external art professor. But I soon discovered that his view of art was so different to mine. He asked me to rewrite some of my thesis to suit his opinion about art. I refused to rewrite my thesis for him and left the PhD course.

What I finally learnt was that everybody has a different appreciation and opinion about art, like blind people touching different parts of an elephant’s body and declaring it is warm to the touch, smooth, rough, hard, etc. Each person is telling the truth but without understanding the elephant as a whole.

Now I can paint without following a tradition or ideology. Simply enjoying to paint. I finally feel settled and peaceful as an artist.

Harry Mafuji