Drop Date: October 13, 2022
Platform: Artpool
Featured Artist: Oscar Oiwa
As the inaugural joint drop, ONBD+Artpool is pleased to present highlights from the series of works “Quarantaine Drawings” by New York based Japanese Brazilian artist, Oscar Oiwa. Celebrated within the traditional art world for his use of drawings to create large scale immersive experiencial installation works, the artist has created a new experimental series that began during the pandemic, using digital drawings. By digitally manipulating the layers of each drawing, Oiwa showcases the process of his creation, resulting in a narrative video work that tells the story behind each image. In this way, Oiwa continues his immersive style of art, only in more intimate, and digital manner.
Quarantine Drawings is a series of works by New York based Japanese Brazilian artist, Oscar Oiwa. Oscar Oiwa was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He graduated in 1989 from the School of Architecture and Urbanism, São Paulo University. He experienced contemporary art during this time in nearby galleries and became an assistant at the São Paulo Art Biennial. Oiwa held his first solo exhibition while he was still in college and thereafter participated in the 21st São Paulo Art Biennial (1991). His works has been shown widely throughout the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe., including solo exhibitions in institutions like: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2007), Japan House São Paulo (2019), among others.
“Suddenly, life has changed. I have stopped taking the subway, going to my studio, walking around the city, seeing movies at the theater, and meeting up with my friends. I spend my days in quarantine, going outside only to shop for food or to get a little fresh air.
Projects and trips have all been postponed. The city has become the new epicenter of the pandemic and life has been made more difficult for all of its inhabitants. Many people have lost their jobs and are getting desperate about paying bills. News from the world outside is far from encouraging. Entire countries have closed their borders. The US presidential response in itself has been a disaster.
I think about what I can do to remain as mentally creative as usual while stuck in my Manhattan apartment. God gave me the gift of transforming feelings into visual art. And using this power, I have started to make a new series of drawings: an imaginary trip in the midst of life under quarantine. The result is like a diary of insights about my past, my present daily life, and the future.” — Oscar Oiwa (May, 2020)
Interview with the artist:
The Fantastic World of Oscar Oiwa
Date: 13 Oct 2022
Interviewed by Julia Flamingo
