Peace and War 戦争と平和

Oscar OIWA is second-generation Japanese-Brazilian artist who was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1965, and after living in Japan for a period (1991-2002), now bases himself in New York. He produces large oil paintings, using skillful brushwork and adroitly referencing the things around him-social phenomena, history, movies, manga, etc., in his compositions. OIWA lived in the Adachi Ward of Tokyo, which is adjacent to the museum, and this fact contributed to there being a large number of his works from this period in the museum’s collection. The two-panel painting entitled War and Peace depicts the same city district in war and in peace. The panel filled with darkness and ominous smoke is “war,” while that showing brightness and lush greenery is “peace.” Both depict the same downtown Tokyo district that was bombed and destroyed during the Second World War. Certainly, the former presents the dismal scene of a wasteland with images of a tornado and a washout, but a light shines in the small house and we sense the presence of people. Meanwhile, in the canvas showing a blue sky, buildings along the river, and a garden and lush trees, the small house appears empty and deserted. These two scenes seem to suggest that war and peace are not opposites, and that war does not end and fade into the past. War and peace always loom over our lives like a double exposure.