Matabee Goto

A pro­lific Osaka-born contemporary Japanese artist, Matabee Goto has never been outside his native Japan, yet paints imaginative works reminiscent of Cha­gall and Tamayo. His subject matter is fantastic birds, animals in tropical jungles, Mexican and East Indies fig­ures. The colors are jazzy and brilliant. Goto grinds his own pigments, uses both oil and water color and then waxes the surface to produce a luminous quality. His paintings are surrealistic, expres­sionistic, and painted to the rhythm of his favorite composer’s music, Stra­vinsky. Woman with Guitar on Beach is a mystical Chagall-like composition, decorative and vibrant. Adam and Eve Outside is one of the few subtle, sub­dued pieces in the show.

—Har­riette von Breton