Kagoshima’s artist Kihara Go holds solo exhibition, including egg tempera demonstration

Kihara Go - During the demonstration

On October 1, a solo exhibition by Kihara Go, an artist from Kagoshima, opened at Gallery Shirakaba.

Kihara paints with tempera, a classical painting technique of Western art. After completing his graduate studies in art at Kyushu Sangyo University, he studied in Paris, France, for three years. Returning to Japan, Kihara continued his art activities while working as an art teacher at a high school in Kagoshima Prefecture. In March this year, he decided to retire from teaching and concentrate on his art activities as an artist. In May, he established a limited liability company, Go ART, where he also works as an art director, managing galleries, planning, producing, and selling artworks.

He has held more than 30 solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, and Paris, but this is his first in Kagoshima City after becoming a full-time artist. The exhibition features about 100 works, including 50 new pieces. The artworks on display include paintings of familiar items such as a mug, a notebook, sneakers, a kettle, cat-themed works, and works depicting Sakurajima in different colors such as red, blue, and green.

At the exhibition, Kihara demonstrates how he paints with egg tempera. He uses egg yolk to bind powdered pigments made from minerals and then paints a 3-meter folding screen in small squares. He plans to be in the gallery almost every day during the exhibition period so that visitors can observe the production process.

Kihara explains why he decided to go independent this year, when he turns 46, instead of waiting for retirement, is because what he can do would change in the future. “I want to raise the standard of culture and art in Kagoshima,” he said. “Kagoshima was once a place that formed art history. I want to regain that heritage and revive it.”

The exhibition is open from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (until 5:00 p.m. on the last day) and runs until October 12.