From June 8 to August 25, 2019, the Jan van der Togt Museum will present the exhibition Playing with colors, small discoveries by Japanese artist Ayako Rokkaku. In July, Rokkaku will move her studio to the museum room and children will have the opportunity to paint with her. Ayako Rokkaku (Chiba Japan, 1982) developed her own unique painting technique as an autodidact; with her bare hands she applies acrylic paint directly to canvas or cardboard. She starts with a painting like a walk without a destination, without a predetermined plan in her mind. She paints by feeling until a composition is created. A dreamy color landscape in which small flowers, animals and skulls float. The girls in Japanese manga style are a recurring element in her work, with large eyes and long arms and legs. These girls are a way for Rokkaku to express her personality in her paintings. The only 1.56 meters tall Rokkaku regularly demonstrates her painting technique during live painting performances on canvases that are sometimes seven meters wide. “It's great to paint on something that is much larger than I am. As I move back and forth between the corners of such a huge canvas, the colors begin to flow through my body.” In recent years, Rokkaku has experimented with various new techniques and materials. Among other things, this resulted in installations of wool and cardboard, sculptures of layers of acrylic and hand-painted antique Louis Vuitton suitcases. Ayako RokkakuWorld citizen Ayako Rokkaku lives and works alternately in Berlin, Porto, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. Rokkaku made her first paintings in 2002 by applying acrylic paint on cardboard with her hands. From then on, her work began to stand out and various prizes and scholarships followed. Since her first solo exhibition at Gallery Delaive in 2007, Rokkaku has had exhibitions in Asia, Europe, and the United States, as well as solo exhibitions at venues including the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. This exhibition at the Jan van der Togt Museum was created in collaboration with Gallery Delaive in Amsterdam.
Live painting On the weekends of July 13-14 and 20-21, the artist will be working live on a piece of art between 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. She will be creating a painting especially for the exhibition on the spot, applying acrylic paint directly to the canvas or cardboard with her bare hands.
Saturday, July 13 & Sunday, July 14: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday, July 20 & Sunday, July 21: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Children's workshops On Sunday, July 14 and Sunday, July 21 at 2 p.m., free workshops will be given where children will have the opportunity to paint along with her. Adults are also welcome!
Sunday, July 14: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Sunday, July 21: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Please register: educatie@jvdtogt.nl (ages 5 and up)