DELUXESTOis anartist participating in the three-person exhibition "Spring Makes Me Meet You" at 9s Gallery from April 13 to 20.
At the exhibition, he will present a series of works entitled "high school boy.
In this article, we interviewed DELUXESTO about his process of becoming an artist, his attitude toward his work, and the story behind his exhibited works.
Born in Miyazaki Prefecture and currently resides in Tokyo. Self-taught in painting, his works based on fashion and street culture have attracted attention.
His style is characterized by not sticking to a specific style, but incorporating what he wants to depict at that moment into his works..
How to become an artist
-First of all, please tell us about your path to becoming an artist.
Originally, I wanted to start my own apparel brand.
When I was in high school, I became obsessed with fashion under the influence of my friends around me, and I moved to Tokyo to enter a fashion college.
I studied there for four years, and after graduation I worked part-time while doing various things to launch my brand. ......
However, that path didn't work out very well.
I had already given up halfway, but I still couldn't get over it, so I started uploading my designs on Instagram.
I started posting my designs on Instagram, and people happened to notice them and responded to them.
You were self-taught in painting, but did you always have a habit of drawing?
I started drawing cartoons with my friends when I was in elementary school.
It was not until I was in vocational school that I consciously started drawing.
I went to a fashion school, so I had classes in drawing designs, which I liked the most.
I was not good at sewing and patterns, so I was absorbed in the design drawing class.
I think I probably developed my drawing skills through that experience.
Incorporating the sensibility of the moment into my work
Collage》2020
-In your early years, you used collage, but later you shifted to portraits, and the range of your style is impressive.
Basically, Ipaint what I want to paint at the time. For example, my early collage work was influenced by the collages I saw on Instagram that other people were doing a lot at the time.
I moved from collage to portraits around 2021, just at the time when there were many artists who had made their breakthrough by painting portraits on canvas, and there was a great deal of buzz at art fairs.
I started painting after the artists who were at the peak of their popularity at the time, and I found that painting with acrylics on canvas was unexpectedly popular with me, which is how I ended up here today.
Canvas is three-dimensional, so there is something special about it.
And because it is a hand painting, there is a sense of tension because you can't redo the work.
There was a time when I wanted to switch to digital, but I have settled on canvas because it suits me better.
deluxe man no.43, 2022
-When you started painting portraits, there have been quite a few changes, such as the fact that your paintings started out almost expressionless, but gradually became more expressive, and the expression of the eyes has changed.
Originally, I wanted to draw something pop, and I chose motifs that stuck to my roots in street culture and fashion.
So, my early portraits were often of boys in street fashion with heavy gold chains that looked like rappers.
However, I gradually wanted to try other styles of expression, so I have been consciously trying nottostick to one stylerecently.
About the work "high school boy" in the group exhibition
high school boy 1, 2024
-The motif of the work to be exhibited in the group exhibition to be held in April is students, so it looks quite different from your early portraits.
I depicted a "high school boy in the new semester," which I associate with the word "spring" in my own way, in keeping with the month of April.
The image is that of a high school boy who is a little nervous about his new environment.
The color is blue.
I originally liked blue, and since it was "spring," I thought it would be straightforward to use pink.
I lightened the brightness of the blue, and I made it look more "spring" by making it more green.
I also recently wanted to incorporate anime-like expressions, so I made the eyes more anime-like.
I sometimes go to pachinko parlors, and I find that the production images on the robot animation machines are quite cool.
Also, many anime are set in schools, so that may have influenced my choice of motifs.
high school boy 2, 2024
-The motif of your work is high school boys.
No, I don't think it's boring to dwell too much on my past.
I would like tocreate my works based on my current senses rather than on how I felt in the past.
Street culture and fashion are my roots, but I would like to work freely without getting too caught up in them.
high school boy 3, 2024
-Do you have a message you would like to convey to visitors to the exhibition?
Simply, I hope that people will like my work. However, it is up to the viewer to decide what they feel.
For me, painting is an act ofincorporating what I am feeling now into my work, of being conscious only of the "present" without regard to the past.
I think that by continuing to do this, I can become an enlightened and spiritually matured person like Buddha.
In fact, when I look back on my life, I realize that I am now in the most mature state I have ever been in. I would like to maintain this state of growth through my artwork.
Group Exhibition Outline
Let Spring Meet You
Exhibition Dates: 2024/4/13 (Sat) to 2024/4/20 (Sat)
Opening hours: 12:00 - 20:00
Opening party: 4/13 (Sat) 18:00 - 20:00
Last day: 17:00 CLOSE
Closed: 4/14 (Sun), 15 (Mon)
Venue：9s Gallery by TRiCERA
The Wall 3F, 4-2-4 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031
Access: Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line Roppongi station 10 min. walk, Hiroo station 10 min. walk
10 minutes walk from Nogizaka station on Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line
Contact: 03-5422-8370
For inquiries about the exhibition, please contact us here
