Singaporean artist Zai Kuning is bringing his first show to Japan this spring with an exhibition of new drawings at Ota Fine Arts Tokyo.“Zai Kuning: Ombak Hitam” features a series of layered drawings from Zai, an artistic polymath whose past creations include visual artworks, theater, dance pieces, films, and sound works.Literally translated as “dark waves,” Ombak Hitam is the Malay name for the Kuroshio, an ocean current that flows past the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan.Darkness and black (Kuroshio means “black tide” in Japanese) are the visual heart of this new show, as seen in works like “Hidden Space in Solitary,” 2016 (pictured above).In these drawings, Zai works in ink and watercolor, layering circular or ovoid inkblots in gradients of black that seem to flow into each other. He also includes little hints of primary color that seem to shine through the waves of darkness, offering the works a sense of deep contrast.These spots of color among darkness evoke the islands that dot the Pacific from Zai’s native Singapore up to Japan, themselves islands linked by the eponymous “Ombak Hitam.”The upcoming show is the second set of works that Zai has titled “Ombak Hitam.” In 2013, Zai and his father, composer Kuning Sulaiman, performed a series of traditional Malay musical pieces, which Zai also called “Ombak Hitam.”“Zai Kuning: Ombak Hitam” runs April 23-June 11 at Ota Fine Arts Tokyo.
↧