Concert in the City 1983

Hiro Yamagata pulled this scene into being with paint and maybe some other media, I'm just guessing here! It's like a dream of a European city square, all in bright blues and reds and yellows. I can imagine Yamagata standing in front of the canvas, brush in hand, trying to capture that feeling of a perfect day. I wonder if he was thinking about all the artists who’ve tried to capture the essence of city life, from Impressionists to Pop artists? The paint looks thin, almost like watercolor, allowing for those clear, bright colors to pop. The texture is smooth, giving it an almost poster-like quality. Look at the way he’s painted the balloons, with their swirling stripes and playful dots. It's a moment of pure joy. Yamagata is in dialogue with so many other painters, picking up ideas, transforming them, and making them his own. It’s a conversation that stretches across time, with each artist adding their voice to the mix. In the end, painting is a conversation without a definite conclusion.