Naotaka Hiro Pushes His Body to Its Limits Using Abstract Painting
In the realm of contemporary art, where the boundaries between body, mind, and medium often blur, Naotaka Hiro stands out as a relentless explorer of the human form's enigmas. His latest exhibition, "Of Two," at New York's Bortolami gallery, running through November 1, 2025, showcases a series of abstract paintings and sculptures that push physical and perceptual limits, inviting viewers to confront the "unknown" aspects of their own existence. Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1972, and now based in Los Angeles, Hiro has developed a multidisciplinary practice that transforms the act of creation into a performative inquiry, using canvas, dye, and bronze to probe the unknowability of the body—a theme that has defined his work for over two decades. This show, featuring large-scale abstractions and meditative bronze casts, exemplifies how Hiro employs abstract painting not just as expression, but as a tool for self-discovery, echoing philosophical ideas from phenomenology to Eastern spirituality.
Hiro's journey into art began in Japan, but his formative years unfolded in California after his family relocated to Los Angeles in 1991. Transferring to UCLA in 1994, he studied under influential figures like Paul McCarthy, Chris Burden, and John Baldessari, whose emphasis on performance and conceptualism shaped his approach. Initially drawn to filmmaking, Hiro faced challenges with language barriers and collaboration, leading him to work solo with a video camera. This setup created a dialectic: he was both actor and director, recording and replaying footage until the lines between self and observer dissolved. "I couldn’t fully embody both roles at the same time, so I kept recording, stopping and replaying," Hiro reflected in a recent interview. This early experimentation laid the groundwork for his exploration of the "Unknown"—the parts of the body and self that remain inaccessible without mediation, such as mirrors or cameras.
By the late 1990s, Hiro transitioned to sculpture and painting, using body casts to externalize internal experiences. His practice aligns with the legacy of artists who treat the body as both subject and tool, reminiscent of the Gutai movement founded in Osaka in 1954. Gutai artists like Kazuo Shiraga painted with their feet, emphasizing action over object—a connection Hiro discovered later through his West Coast mentors. "I was shocked—I had never seen Gutai before, yet I immediately felt not just a connection but almost a familial bond," he said. For more on Gutai's innovative history, the Wikipedia entry on Gutai Art Association offers a detailed overview of its impact on performance art. Hiro's work also echoes Viennese Actionism and figures like Tetsumi Kudo, blending visceral body exploration with conceptual depth.
Central to Hiro's method is a performative process that tests endurance. In his vertical unstretched canvas works, he wraps loose fabric around his body, creating a cocoon-like enclosure. From a central hole, he paints and draws in timed intervals—typically two hours—using dye, oil pastel, and other materials. The ropes threaded through the edges allow him to cinch the canvas, restricting movement and vision, forcing an intuitive response. Upon unfurling, the canvas reveals a record of his gestures: red lines tracing motion, green fields marking pauses. "A red line shows how I moved, a green field indicates where I lingered," Hiro explained. This technique, evolved from early experiments with wearable masks and life-size drawings, transforms the artwork into "evidence" of the process—traces of the body's residue, placement, and movement.
The "Of Two" exhibition at Bortolami builds on this, presenting large-scale canvases like Sandwaves, Internally, Volumes 1 and 2, which envelop the viewer in vibrant, textured abstractions. These works, filled with swirling patterns in reds, blues, and yellows, feature circular voids that evoke peepholes into the unknown, symbolizing the gaps in self-perception. Accompanying them are bronze sculptures, Plot, Perpetual and Plot, Rerouted, cast from performances during Hiro's recovery from severe COVID-19. Seated in meditative poses, these figures capture subtle shifts in breath and posture, with silicone molds preserving the body's impermanence. "Each day, I would sit cross-legged and scan my body—from my toes up to my ears—observing pain, heartbeat, fever and breath," Hiro recounted. The Bortolami gallery, known for showcasing innovative artists, provides the perfect venue; explore more on their official website.
Hiro's art resonates with philosophical underpinnings, from Maurice Merleau-Ponty's embodied perception to Julia Kristeva's "stranger within." His diasporic experience—moving from Japan to the U.S.—amplifies this sense of estrangement, turning art into a bridge between cultural identities. "The dilemma evokes horror and anxiety but creates awe and wonder," he noted, emphasizing how the Unknown sparks both fear and imagination. Influences like Martin Heidegger's Dasein further inform his inquiry into being-in-the-world, where canvases become maps of existential navigation.
Critics and peers praise Hiro's approach. Koki Tanaka, a fellow Japanese artist, admires how Hiro "uses his body to understand his body," linking it to self-exploration. Exhibitions like his 2018 "Made in L.A." at the Hammer Museum have highlighted this, with works like Untitled (Two Legs Vertical) using ropes to evoke the performative act. In earlier shows, such as "Peak" at The Box in 2017, Hiro's cocoon-like canvases thrust viewers into intimate, primal spaces, as reviewed in the Los Angeles Times.
Hiro's process is physically demanding, often involving hours of restricted movement, echoing endurance art by Marina Abramović or Chris Burden. Yet, he sets self-imposed rules—like timers—to maintain balance, viewing them as "rules of a sport or game" to play within or violate. This dialectic—between immersion and analysis—mirrors his shift from soft canvases (like 360-degree scanners) to rigid wood panels (flatbed scanners), adapting to new constraints while uncovering fresh insights.
Growing up in a Buddhist family in Nara, surrounded by temples, Hiro absorbed ethics unconsciously, infusing his work with meditative undertones. Though not formally studied, Japanese art traditions—like the unity of body and mind in ink painting—resonate subtly. His art thus bridges East and West, Gutai's action with California's conceptualism.
As Hiro continues to evolve, exhibitions like "Of Two" affirm his place in contemporary discourse. By pushing his body to limits, he invites us to question our own perceptions, turning abstract painting into a profound, universal dialogue.
FAQ
What is Naotaka Hiro's artistic process? Hiro wraps canvas around his body, painting from a central hole in timed sessions, using ropes to restrict movement and create intuitive gestures that record the "unknown" aspects of his form.
Where is Hiro's latest exhibition? "Of Two" is at Bortolami gallery in New York, running through November 1, 2025, featuring abstract canvases and bronze sculptures.
What themes does Hiro explore? He investigates the unknowability of the body, estrangement from self, and the dialectic between subjectivity and objectivity, influenced by displacement and phenomenology.
What is Hiro's background? Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1972, he moved to Los Angeles in 1991, studied at UCLA under Paul McCarthy, Chris Burden, and John Baldessari, and now lives in Pasadena.
How has COVID-19 influenced his work? During recovery, Hiro created meditative bronze casts from body scans, observing pain and breath, resulting in sculptures like Plot, Perpetual.