The Infinite Stories in Zakamoto's Representation
It would be natural to call these forays into figuration conceptual. But, in my view, that is far too easy: Zakamoto is, above all, a painter of visions worked out at the drawing board, carrying a precisely aimed message. One immediately notices that, in every context of narrative expression, he strives for perfection of execution, conceding nothing to error, both formally and in the laying down of colour — things that, in painting, replace the word with the utmost emblematic force. These are certainly imaginative situations perfectly suited to our era, where everything is constantly put back into play, overturning the premises of a future that, in these talented paintings, is portrayed as anxious hope in the features of many children. For the present here appears without a past, presented by characters whose history has uncertain roots, often born in comics, in the pages of the news, or in popular fiction; impeccably depicted, they are always revisited and updated in their legendary charge with ethical intent, supported by captions that reveal them only in part.
It is in this context that Zakamoto's conceptual side operates: an artist who, in his own way, should be considered a neo-Romantic. His wholly original storytelling tackles the themes of the contemporary social macrocosm with cold determination and refined execution, through an impeccable line; in these painted pages the choice and laying of the elegantly atonal colours are played out in a skilful contrapuntal dialogue, in visual sonorities that carry uncertainties. His museum roots lie in Italian Pop Art, the so-called Roman School of the late twentieth century, where Zakamoto nonetheless undertakes an entirely free and personal journey, without preset intellectual constraints, tending — even within the imaginative context he has chosen — toward the most absolute objectivity.
Yet it would be wrong to consider him a cold artist because of this approach; on the contrary: guided by his poetics, he manages to explore his inner spaces without falling into utopia, delivering instead disenchanted messages and pointed questions, where the visual appearances of his life and ours combine with the concreteness of colour.
It is in this context that Zakamoto's conceptual side operates: an artist who, in his own way, should be considered a neo-Romantic. His wholly original storytelling tackles the themes of the contemporary social macrocosm with cold determination and refined execution, through an impeccable line; in these painted pages the choice and laying of the elegantly atonal colours are played out in a skilful contrapuntal dialogue, in visual sonorities that carry uncertainties. His museum roots lie in Italian Pop Art, the so-called Roman School of the late twentieth century, where Zakamoto nonetheless undertakes an entirely free and personal journey, without preset intellectual constraints, tending — even within the imaginative context he has chosen — toward the most absolute objectivity.
Yet it would be wrong to consider him a cold artist because of this approach; on the contrary: guided by his poetics, he manages to explore his inner spaces without falling into utopia, delivering instead disenchanted messages and pointed questions, where the visual appearances of his life and ours combine with the concreteness of colour.
Verrebbe spontaneo definire di taglio concettuale queste ricerche d'ambito figurativo. Ma, a mio parere, è sin troppo facile: Zakamoto è, soprattutto, pittore di visioni elaborate a tavolino, che riportano un messaggio ben mirato. Ci si avvede subito che in ogni contesto di espressività narrativa, egli tende alla perfettibilità dell'esecuzione, nulla concedendo all'errore, sia dal punto di vista formale che della stesura cromatica – cose che in pittura sostituiscono, nella più assoluta emblematicità , la parola. Sono queste certamente situazioni immaginifiche perfettamente consone alla nostra epoca, dove tutto è costantemente rimesso in gioco, stravolgendo le premesse di un futuro che, in questi dipinti talentuosi, è rappresentato come trepidante speranza nei tratti di molti bambini. Perché il presente appare qui senza passato, presentato da personaggi la cui storia ha radici incerte, nati spesso nei fumetti, nelle pagine della cronaca, o nella narrativa popolare; effigiati in modo impeccabile, sono sempre rivisitati e aggiornati nella loro carica leggendaria con intenzioni etiche, sostenuti da didascalie che ne sono solo di parziale rivelazione.
àˆ in questo contesto che agisce la concettualità di Zakamoto: un artista che, a suo modo, va considerato un neoromantico. La sua narrazione del tutto originale affronta le tematiche del macrocosmo sociale contemporaneo con fredda determinazione, con raffinatezza esecutiva, tramite un segno di esecutivo ineccepibile; in queste pagine pittoriche la scelta e la stesura dei colori elegantemente atonali sono giocate in un sapiente dialogo contrappuntistico, in sonorità visive portatrici di incertezze Le sue radici museali sono quelle della Pop Art italiana la cosiddetta Scuola Romana del secondo Novecento, dove Zakamoto conduce comunque un viaggio del tutto libero e personale, privo di paletti intellettuali prefissati, tendendo, pur nel contesto immaginifico che si è imposto, alla più assoluta oggettività .
Tuttavia, con questo suo modo di procedere, sarebbe sbagliato considerarlo un artista freddo, anzi: guidato dalla sua poetica, egli riesce a esplorare i suoi spazi interiori senza cadere nell'utopia, ma consegnando messaggi disillusi e interrogazioni puntuali, dove le apparenze visive del suo e del nostro vivere si coniugano con la concretezza del colore.
àˆ in questo contesto che agisce la concettualità di Zakamoto: un artista che, a suo modo, va considerato un neoromantico. La sua narrazione del tutto originale affronta le tematiche del macrocosmo sociale contemporaneo con fredda determinazione, con raffinatezza esecutiva, tramite un segno di esecutivo ineccepibile; in queste pagine pittoriche la scelta e la stesura dei colori elegantemente atonali sono giocate in un sapiente dialogo contrappuntistico, in sonorità visive portatrici di incertezze Le sue radici museali sono quelle della Pop Art italiana la cosiddetta Scuola Romana del secondo Novecento, dove Zakamoto conduce comunque un viaggio del tutto libero e personale, privo di paletti intellettuali prefissati, tendendo, pur nel contesto immaginifico che si è imposto, alla più assoluta oggettività .
Tuttavia, con questo suo modo di procedere, sarebbe sbagliato considerarlo un artista freddo, anzi: guidato dalla sua poetica, egli riesce a esplorare i suoi spazi interiori senza cadere nell'utopia, ma consegnando messaggi disillusi e interrogazioni puntuali, dove le apparenze visive del suo e del nostro vivere si coniugano con la concretezza del colore.
It would be natural to call these forays into figuration conceptual. But, in my view, that is far too easy: Zakamoto is, above all, a painter of visions worked out at the drawing board, carrying a precisely aimed message. One immediately notices that, in every context of narrative expression, he strives for perfection of execution, conceding nothing to error, both formally and in the laying down of colour — things that, in painting, replace the word with the utmost emblematic force. These are certainly imaginative situations perfectly suited to our era, where everything is constantly put back into play, overturning the premises of a future that, in these talented paintings, is portrayed as anxious hope in the features of many children. For the present here appears without a past, presented by characters whose history has uncertain roots, often born in comics, in the pages of the news, or in popular fiction; impeccably depicted, they are always revisited and updated in their legendary charge with ethical intent, supported by captions that reveal them only in part.
It is in this context that Zakamoto's conceptual side operates: an artist who, in his own way, should be considered a neo-Romantic. His wholly original storytelling tackles the themes of the contemporary social macrocosm with cold determination and refined execution, through an impeccable line; in these painted pages the choice and laying of the elegantly atonal colours are played out in a skilful contrapuntal dialogue, in visual sonorities that carry uncertainties. His museum roots lie in Italian Pop Art, the so-called Roman School of the late twentieth century, where Zakamoto nonetheless undertakes an entirely free and personal journey, without preset intellectual constraints, tending — even within the imaginative context he has chosen — toward the most absolute objectivity.
Yet it would be wrong to consider him a cold artist because of this approach; on the contrary: guided by his poetics, he manages to explore his inner spaces without falling into utopia, delivering instead disenchanted messages and pointed questions, where the visual appearances of his life and ours combine with the concreteness of colour.
It is in this context that Zakamoto's conceptual side operates: an artist who, in his own way, should be considered a neo-Romantic. His wholly original storytelling tackles the themes of the contemporary social macrocosm with cold determination and refined execution, through an impeccable line; in these painted pages the choice and laying of the elegantly atonal colours are played out in a skilful contrapuntal dialogue, in visual sonorities that carry uncertainties. His museum roots lie in Italian Pop Art, the so-called Roman School of the late twentieth century, where Zakamoto nonetheless undertakes an entirely free and personal journey, without preset intellectual constraints, tending — even within the imaginative context he has chosen — toward the most absolute objectivity.
Yet it would be wrong to consider him a cold artist because of this approach; on the contrary: guided by his poetics, he manages to explore his inner spaces without falling into utopia, delivering instead disenchanted messages and pointed questions, where the visual appearances of his life and ours combine with the concreteness of colour.