02 Oct Interlude Scenes——OZU Wataru’s Solo Exhibition
OZU Wataru (b.1991, Tokyo, Japan) received his MFA in Oil Painting from Tokyo University of the Arts. Deeply inspired from childhood by Yamato-e, the Rinpa school, and ukiyo-e, he weaves the Japanese philosophical aesthetics of ma—the beauty of intervals—into his practice. On canvas, ma structures a visual rhythm that allows viewing to move beyond mere imagery, transforming into a temporal experience: suspended instants and flowing traces intertwine, much like interludes in music, where fleeting silence marks the presence of rhythm.
In Ozu’s painting practice, Eastern and Western traditions are not oppositional but interwoven. The concept of “emptiness” in Chinese painting can be traced to the flourishing of Zen thought during the Southern Song dynasty—where painters like Ma Yuan and Xia Gui used the interplay of void and substance to create a tension between the finite and infinite. By contrast, the Japanese notion of ma, shaped by Chinese painting, Zen Buddhism, and Noh theater, is a conscious aesthetic philosophy. Its meaning extends beyond stillness to denote the intervals between sounds, movements, and events, emphasizing emergence and rhythm within perception itself.
Today, the idea of ma has long transcended regional culture, resonating in global aesthetic discourses: the balance of light and shadow in architecture, pauses in music, and moments of stillness in dance all embody a profound awareness of ma. Ozu’s painting responds to this cross-disciplinary sensibility—carrying forward Japanese traditions while reframing them as a contemporary mode of seeing.
For this exhibition, Ozu reinterprets the framework of Western still life through a contemporary lens, in dialogue with the 17th-century European tradition of Vanitas painting. Originally, such works used symbols like skulls, decay, or domestic objects to remind viewers of life’s transience and the vanity of earthly glory. In Ozu’s hands, these motifs—traditionally bound to death and impermanence—are released from the sense of terminal stillness, and through ma, are transformed into a visual flow.
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Interlude Scenes——OZU Wataru’s Solo Exhibition
Period｜2025.10.18–12.6
Opening reception｜2025.10.18 15:00
Venue｜1F., No. 222, Shidong Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei
Tel｜+886-2-28310558