installation view of Tomoo Gokita "Heaven" at Honor Fraser Gallery

Tomoo Gokita, "Heaven"
In past works Tomoo Gokita has drawn and painted from budget pornography, selectively rendering and partially obscuring - with his signature abstractions - the awkward posture of staged pleasure. While there is nothing awkward or contrived about the paintings, what they do have in common with pornography of any kind is their ability to provoke an intense emotional reaction from the viewer. More often than not the reaction is an invigorating intellectual discomfort derived from the attempt to reconcile the figurative and nonrepresentational forms on the canvas.
Tomoo's recent paintings are further evidence of, in his words, "the unexplainable sensibility" that results from intentionally fracturing a whole. In this case, what was whole was his black and white gouache on canvas oeuvre and the blue and white acrylics of "Heaven" have successfully cracked it open, revealing a new psychological dimension. "Don't Tear Down What Took So Long To Build," the title of one painting featured in "Heaven," is ironic considering Tomoo's continued interest in disrupting appropriated and recognizable images with the organic designs of his unique cuneiform. In "Heaven" though these unexpected interjections are logical and are perhaps a means of creating peace in previously unsettled environments; they appear with the grace of a wrestler entering the only place where he is truly comfortable, the ring.
text by Honor Fraser Gallery

Exhibition Info
Date: Nov 7 - Dec 19, 2009
Place:Honor Fraser Gallery
Address: 2622 S. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90034