840 Napoleon Avenue (at Magazine Street)
New Orleans, Louisiana 70115  |  Tel (504) 895-6130
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10AM-5PM

Tweet

HOME  - ABOUT  - SCHEDULE  - ARTISTS  - CONTACT  - VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

| View artwork |

Masahiro Arai

Statement

Some artists move one direction to another, changing their style and subject matter while others stay the same, improving their own style. I think I am one of the latter ones.

The last few years I spent more time in Japan and I realized the art works favored there and in the United States were not the same. I tried to create what the Japanese favored. Doing so I was unfocused and a little confused.

Then one day I was listening to a song and a phrase in it hit me: "Look back. You may not find where to go but you know where you came from." By returning to the old theme I might be able to get back on track.

Painting Dancing Light which was the same image of my lithograph from twenty years ago, gave me an energy to paint again. Repainting Lemons and Potpourri in a smaller scale was fun. Drawing a larger version of the lithograph Three Plus One in colored pencil made me excited.

I started to regain my confidence and the joy to paint and draw. Realizing the simple answer is that the important thing is just paint what you want to paint.

- Masahiro Arai
September 2010

Honors and Awards

Permanent Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art
Merit Award, Prova Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan
Purchase Award, 20th National Print Exhibition, Schenectady, New York

Education

1992 - MFA, University of New Orleans
1988 - AA, Delgado Community College, New Orleans