A classic portrait from Tomoo Gokita’s acclaimed oeuvre, Mature #1 presents a seductive concoction of Pop, Surrealism, Neo-Expressionism and Japanese graphic design. Created in 2017, the work showcases Gokita’s technical precision across diverse painterly methods, encompassing chiaroscuro lines, luscious sheens, smears, rubs and erasures. Inspired by his former career as a graphic designer in the fashion and music industry, Gokita’s aesthetic culls found imagery from 1970s Playboy magazines, pin-up posters, vintage post cards, record sleeves, classic film stills and other reference points appropriated from Japanese and Western popular culture and marginal counterculture. During his early days as an artist, the choice of a limited palette was a solution to financial struggles. Gokita’s breakthrough came in 2000 when the Japanese publisher Little More released 3,000 copies of his artist book Lingerie Wrestling, which swiftly sold out and became a cult classic.

In 2005, the New York-based artist Taylor McKimens discovered a copy of Lingerie Wrestling and invited Gokita to take part in a group show in Chelsea. Gokita’s works were extremely well received and initiated gallery interest, leading to a slew of solo shows and critical acclaim that launched him into the New York and international art world. Instantly recognizable, Gokita’s singular stylized aesthetic is elusive yet electrifying, charged with seduction and mystery. In Roberta Smith’s words: “Mr. Gokita’s vocabulary barrels across illustration, pornography, abstraction, children’s drawing, calligraphy and sign-painting, with a perfect control, velvety surfaces and tonal range that makes black-and-white feel like living color makes black-and-white feel like living colour” (Roberta Smith, ‘Stranger Town: Invading Genres Breach the Art World’s Porous Borders’, The New York Times, March 9, 2005).

《成熟 #1》是五木田智央眾多備受讚譽的創作中一幅經典作品，引人入勝地揉合了普普、超現實主義、新表現主義及日式平面設計等藝術風格。在這幅創作於2017年的作品中，五木田採用了呈現出明暗對比的線條、豐富的光澤、塗抹、擦刮和挖除等繪畫手法，完美地展現他精準而多樣化的技藝。作為一位時尚界及音樂界的前平面設計師，五木田的美學受到1970年代的《花花公子》雜誌、流行海報、復古明信片、唱片封套、及經典電影劇照的影響，他亦有了解其他日本及西方的流行文化或非主流反傳統文化產物作為參考。在他藝術事業的起步階段，五木田因財政拮据，而不得已要選用單調的色彩作畫。五木田在2000年迎來了事業上的突破——日本出版商Little More 為他發行了三千本《內衣摔角》，這本書不但迅速斷市，更成為了另類藝術的經典之作。在2005年，駐紐約的藝術家泰勒・麥基曼（Taylor McKimens）遇上了一本《內衣摔角》，並邀請五木田參與一場在切爾西舉辦的聯展。五木田的作品在該場展覽中大獲好評，並受到多間畫廊的青睞，讓他繼而舉辦了多場個人展覽，更登上紐約以至國際藝術舞台。五木田獨一無二的美學，有著扣人心弦、又令人想入非非的神秘魅力。羅伯塔・史密斯（Roberta Smith）形容：「五木田的藝術詞彙橫跨插圖、色情圖像、抽象、兒童繪畫、書法、及廣告牌繪畫等風格，他所展現的完美掌控、天鵝絨般光滑的表面質感及色調的變化，讓黑白尤如鮮豔的顏色般。」（羅伯塔・史密斯，〈陌生市鎮：入侵藝術突破藝術世界的多孔邊界〉，《紐約時報》，2005年3月9日）