Telephone 1987

Hiro Yamagata's 'Telephone' conjures up a rainy night in a bustling city with a limited but luminous color palette and playful, geometric forms. I wonder if Yamagata began with a sketch, a memory, or maybe just the feeling of a city street slick with rain? I see them layering color like memories, the blues and blacks deepening the shadows, the reds and yellows popping like neon signs. The texture seems almost velvety, like the canvas itself is absorbing the light. There's a conversation happening between the flat shapes of the buildings and the shimmering reflections on the pavement. The telephone booth, like a beacon, anchoring us in this urban dreamscape. I get the feeling Yamagata really enjoyed making this work; it's clear that they are in love with city life. And that cab! So many painters have painted cabs – it's a whole lineage that Yamagata inserts himself into. Each artist adding their own verse to the ongoing story of art.