West Bund Art & Design 2019

The seminal exhibition Simple Forms, held at both the Centre Pompidou-Metz and at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo in 2015, was rooted in the fascination of humanity with forms both simple and full, focusing on the rich and beautiful tales told by the forms of the object. This pursuit of “simple forms”, which deeply resonates with the heralded Japanese aesthetic of the pursuit of beauty through simplicity, is further encapsulated by Marcel Duchamp exclaiming to Constantin Brancusi (upon their visit together to the Salon de la Locomotion Aerienne) that, “Painting is finished! Who can do better than that propeller? Tell me, can you do that?”

Yufuku Gallery proudly presents at our West Bund debut the curated exhibition Simple Forms, a revisit of the presentation featured at the Centre Pompidou-Metz and the Mori Art Museum. Featured are contemporary artists whose works are renowned for their simple forms and landscapes that heighten and accentuate the beauty of their materials.

Today, Yufuku’s aesthetic is known as the Keisho-Ha (School of Form) Movement, and attempts to capture what has been long lost but not forgotten within today’s art world – a much-anticipated Return to Innocence that is testament to what the future holds in store: that art that rises above and beyond must have integrity within execution and craftsmanship, coupled with the pursuit of beauty within material itself. This is the essence of art that we have respected and revered for centuries.

Our artists do not cater to passing trends or fads. Instead, we pursue the fostering of art that can stand the tests of time, and will strike the heart of persons from any creed, culture and continent, and from any moment in time. The Keisho-Ha will emerge from the shadows like the morning sun. A new dawn rises. – Wahei Aoyama