A Scene from the KANO mitsuo's
Mirror of Bone or Mirage of Color

A retrospective exhibition of KANO mitsuo's works from his earlier days to the present was held at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (APMA) from September 15 to November 5. Amassing nearly 400 pieces, the display covered a variety of genres including the artist's early etchings, brilliant multi-color metal prints, oil paintings and objects to book designs. Unfortunately, the exhibition may have gone unknown to many as the Asahi Shimbun's special feature on the event was overshadowed by the news on the terrible floods in the Tokai region caused by the heaviest rainstorm in 500 years. (The feature included an impressive review by OOKA Makoto, a famous poet and 40-year friend of the artist.)

The APMA cosponsors a viewing hour for each special exhibition with the Friends of the APMA exclusively for its members. A program usually starts with a short lecture by the museum curator in charge of the exhibition followed by a tour in which comments and questions from the participants are accepted in front of the works of art. However, this time, I asked Mr. Kano himself to join us for the program. We hoped to hear the voice of the shy and quiet artist. I was told that he had never given a talk on his works in public, so I was a little uncertain about the program even on the very day, October 5.

Mr. Kano began by offering everyone small objects that he had specially prepared for the day. He'd put in a small metal ball inside beautiful green seashells. They were remainders of the shellfish he had used for catching black sea breams, his only hobby. The objects were named Shell Crickets, as they sounded like crickets when shaken. These were his gift to the participants. After a brief conversation with the audience, we moved on to the gallery. Mr. Kano's high-pitched voice sounded through the stir of the audience. Silence prevailed as he started to talk before Ramentum Semiotics III, the piece he had painted for this exhibition.

First, he told us how he came to produce Ramentum Semiotics. When Mr. Kano produces a work, he always derives an inspiration from something. In this case, it was a scale from a pirarucu, a huge fresh water fish from the Amazon River. It was a large scale, 5 cm long, which he had possessed since his youth that became the source for the image. He became intrigued by the "scales that cover the body and skin, yet come in contact with the outer world and connect the inside and outside worlds despite their thinness," and decided to take up the theme. It seemed that we could see a swaying light come up to the surface from the deep sea when we observed the picture once again after this explanation.

Mr. Kano pointed to the beautiful blue picture and said that the robes of John and Mathew in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper were originally painted in the same way. Of course, the paint on da Vinci's work had come off, so it doesn't look like that anymore, he said and continued that da Vinci painted a bright blue over a dark color (not black) to give depth to the color. The audience gave out a cry of surprise when he quoted from da Vinci's memoir, "There's a darkness in the depth of the blue sky," and said that da Vinci had demonstrated his words in the robes of the two disciples. After explaining the secret behind his colors, Mr. Kano concluded that the color in Ramentum Semiotics was realized "thanks to Leonardo da Vinci."

Mr. Kano's clear and convincing remarks continued to fascinate the participants till the very end. It turned out that there was nothing to worry about.

(K.M.)