Lot 1706: SATOSHI WATANABE

SATOSHI WATANABE
(B. 1967)
Lake District
titled and signed 'Lake District S. Watanabe' in English; dated '1999' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas, mounted on board
130.2 x 161.8 cm. (51 1/4 x 63 3/4 in.)
Painted in 1999

In today's interconnected world of internet, cell phones and advertisements, images of places and objects are accessible by a click of a button. This flexibility has allowed physically inaccessible, even remote destinations to be visually captured and circulated, allowing a person from any locale to have 'visited' any of these world famous sites. As a consequence of such technological advancement, the exotic allure of these destinations fades gradually as their images become mundanely ubiquitous. Many of those who choose to visit these destinations now only go to simply glance at them, instead of gathering a thorough understanding of the historical and cultural components of the artifacts themselves. Watanabe's works therefore can be viewed as a subtle commentary on this phenomenon as he renders the seemingly trite images of famous sites in the innovative concept of pixilated images.

The construction of Watanabe's works is methodical and labour-intensive. He first places dot-shaped stickers onto the canvas, and then paints over them an image of worldly renowned architecture like Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (Lot 1707), or landscape such as the Lake District (Lot 1706). Finally he painstakingly removes these stickers one by one, revealing an insubstantial and vague image appeared to be covered by a veil, imparting a strange, ethereal quality. The image is clearly apparent when we do not see the dots, however, when the dots come to view as round shapes, we cannot decipher the image, leaving us to experience a slightly disorienting effect that challenges our sense of familiarity and renews our fascination with these destinations. In Somewhere in Scotland we are faced with a potentially arbitrary place. Unlike the easily recognizable locations in Watanabe's other paintings, the exact source of these sceneries is somewhat mysterious. The choice of these obscure sceneries reflects author's playful commentary on the phenomenon of casual viewing, which results from the saturation of visual imagery in our lives propagated by modern technology. Watanabe innovatively veils the unidentified locales, transforming them into stimulating imagery that prompts us to carefully re-observe our surrounding from a different perspective.