Mellow Yellow 2021

Curator: Up next we have "Mellow Yellow," a 2021 oil-on-canvas piece by Milt Kobayashi. The canvas features a crouching female figure, rendered in a palette of pale skin tones contrasted against… well, a mellow yellow background. Editor: My first impression is how tactile this piece is; I want to run my fingers over the surface. You can practically feel the impasto brushstrokes. Curator: Indeed. Kobayashi seems to be working in conversation with neo-expressionist approaches. The artist leaves traces of visible process, nodding to a rawness reminiscent of late twentieth-century works invested in immediacy. Editor: Look at how the brushwork defines the form; it is all about materiality. And the social element here is not overt but the history of figuration is present—nudes by male artists have traditionally centered on objectification. Curator: Right. We could place "Mellow Yellow" in a dialog with those historical precedents. There’s an undeniably vulnerable pose and intimate gaze, but the artist employs very physical means of expression. Is it a continuation or disruption of this nude-figure trope? Editor: Perhaps Kobayashi's aim lies in that very question. He foregrounds the making process as if to say, "Look at the labour, look at the gesture.” It reminds you this is built and constructed with tangible matter like oil paint. How that production impacts social views on representations of women I see as his focus. Curator: A thoughtful reading! I agree. Kobayashi's piece seems very attuned to contemporary conversations around visual representation. Editor: Precisely, and that interplay is enhanced by its creation. The oil paint application is very considered; a modern update, perhaps, to traditions that once dominated the artistic landscape. Curator: Absolutely. Thinking through Kobayashi's choices with a materialist lens illuminates the social conversations the artwork sparks and joins. Editor: Indeed. Paying attention to the processes makes us think beyond just the image itself. It invites interrogation.