Text, Photo, Edit : Seira Kimura

ーHow did you come to hold your exhibition at BEAMS Ikebukuro?

There is a gallery called Roll in Iidabashi, and Fujiki the curator there loves music and came to see our live. Then, he invited us to do a solo exhibition of my band. Originally he was going to exhibit pictures and videos of my band, but I completely thought that I had to exhibit paintings because it was a gallery show. So I brought many of my paintings to him while still misunderstanding that, but he liked them haha. Fujiki was in charge of the exhibition layout for BEAMS Ikebukuro’s store renovation at the time, and I was lucky enough to be asked to exhibit my paintings from him then.

ーOh, I see. You mean, at first, there was a solo exhibition of your band which led to the opportunity to do this exhibition?

Exactly.

ーYou told me that you started to paint “kissing painting” in this exhibition when you were in elementary school, right?

Yeah.

ーWhat made you start painting that?

I hated studying since I was in elementary school, so I used to doodle in my notebook during class. I think everyone has a drawing that they can easily draw, and “Kissing painting” is exactly that for me.

ーOh yeah, You said that you could paint with your eyes closed.

Yeah. So when I was in elementary school, I drew this one on the blackboard with my eyes closed in front of my friends and they praised me, but I drew too much that and they told me “That’s enough!” haha.

ーYou mean it was something familiar to you guys haha.

To put it better, exactly hehe.

ーWhat is the reason you continue to paint this?

I’ve liked to paint ever since a long time ago. But at the time of The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake, I was living with my grandmother for about a year, and I still didn’t have a smartphone then so I draw a lot because I was pretty bored. However since I became a high school student, I didn’t have enough time to paint because I was involved in club activities. So in order to keep painting while I was a high school student, I used to paint “kissing painting” which could quickly paint anytime. So actually it’s not that I have any special love for that.

ーI see. You mean, it was to keep you painting even when you were busy, so It is not a special thing.

Yeah, There’s no deep meaning to it. Also, as far as I know, I don’t think any other artists have made “kissing painting” a regular part of their work. If there is already such a someone, I would be plagiarizing it, but I probably think it’s ok for now haha.

ーYou did a lot of the album cover for your band “HASIRIKOMIS”, right? What do your music and art have in common?

In both, I want to emphasize the importance of being myself, even if one is not very good at it. For example, I think we also could be active as a jazz band that everyone would like, instead of a band like our band HASIRIKOMIS. And if our performance is good enough, it will be very comfortable for the audience. So of course, I think improving quality is very important both in music and in art. However, sometimes, even a simple drawing or a simple piece of music can have a greater impact. So, in both music and art, I want to be able to create something that shows more of “my individuality” than technical skills.

ーI’ve got the impression that a lot of your music is based on your real experiences and feelings, what are your influences when you paint, and what do you see reflected in your artwork?

I have favorite works of art, but I don’t draw things influenced by them or express my feelings in my paintings. However, when I make music, I often do that. I often paint when I’m not thinking about anything, and paintings may be something that is very close to me and a more casual thing than music for me.

ーWhat would you like to try in the future in terms of art?

I want to paint very big paintings haha, but I want to paint more “specific paintings”, not abstract paintings like the ones of flowers and so on that I used in the music video of HASIRIKOMIS.

ー”Specific paintings”?

Hmm…, anyone can paint flowers, but I want to be able to paint something that people can tell I painted. And I have so many other things I’d like to try…

－Oh, by the way, you also did live painting before, didn’t you?

Yeah haha, but I don’t think about it that much. I just want to do what I want to do or what interests me at the time, and then I think, “I have to do it.” And I’m often interested in things that there are pros and cons for everyone.

－Oh, really? I think this goes along with what you said earlier, but I feel that in contemporary art, originality or “individuality” is more important than technique, compared to Western art.

I think it’s interesting because it’s a genre that is not bound by stereotypes. I know there are harsh opinions about whether that is art or not, but it is very interesting. Actually, I have visited many museums during my previous trips to Italy. Then, I was looking at religious paintings for about two hours, and I felt like, “Umm….” haha. I think that is also amazing, but now that I know contemporary art, I would feel very bored if the exhibition only had those paintings. Of course, I also think that the painting has a background about it and is very valuable, so when I see something like that, I think I can not give up or be lax about learning the skills haha.

－That’s right haha. I also think that there’s no drawback to having the skills. Finally, please tell us about the highlights of this exhibition and give us a message to our readers.

Well…just feel free to take a look haha. And there are six paintings. Please come and see the paintings if you come to buy clothes there!

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◆ Biography

Ataru Matsumoto

Guitarist and vocalist of the Tokyo-based band “HASIRIKOMIS”. In addition to his band, he also does artwork for his own band and exhibits his paintings in a wide variety of venues.

Instagram : ＠europeansexy