Manabu TAKANO
Ceremony Gold
Oil on Canvas
91*72.5cm
2025
Each mask represents a different life and journey. When these masks come together, it's often for celebrations and ceremonies. In these gatherings, everyone presents a different face, their smiles not of genuine joy, but sometimes forced expressions of sadness due to the occasion.
The artwork seems to have masked everyone, even those expressions that belong to the unmasked faces of the crowd. But when people meet, or when groups gather, those masked faces emerge. Are we still ourselves then? Or is that a false version of ourselves? Or is that the real us? Therefore, when people meet, we always present another version of ourselves, sometimes truly failing to recognize ourselves.
Gold often evokes religious sacredness, especially in Asia, where the color gold is often associated with respect or wealth. When each person's face is no longer the same self they are when alone, it's as if they've donned a golden mask. Does the self itself become less important?