Polychrome and Polymorphism

Mitsumasa Kadota (b.1980) is engaged in an ongoing exploration of the possibilities of painting with a focus on identity, producing numerous dynamic abstract works characterized by a vivid palette and swift, bold brushstrokes.

Working primarily in acrylic, Kadota takes a keen interest in art-historical concerns such as media, materiality, concepts of time and space, and the interplay between color and brushwork in traditional painting, while his exploration of the painting medium also extends to human intellectual endeavor in diverse fields including chemistry, physics, mathematics, and philosophy. Underlying his practice is consistently profound engagement with a range of contemporary issues, and his mental processes (or conflicts) and conclusions appear to kinetically swirl and accumulate on the canvas.

Kadota’s recent paintings, which grapple sincerely with a wide range of themes, have taken on a more static quality. His palette continues to expand, incorporating not only such traditional Japanese intermediate colors as sekichiku (Chinese pink) and asagi (pale blue-green), but also soft, luminous tones derived from iridescent synthetic pigments.

Hiroyuki Uchiro
Chief Curator
POLA Museum of Art