‘By re-creating some of the most banal objects in our environment, such as washing machines, food court trash receptacles and microwave ovens, Kaz Oshiro stretches the conventional limits of painting on both a literal and conceptual level. In elevating the value of these objects, he also forces us to look at them anew, as modular forms and as products of a modernist aesthetic.
‘This association is further complicated by the objects’ traces of their former users. Rock band stickers or spilled detergent interrupt the clean lines and cold formality of these mass-produced boxes with sudden emotions of nostalgia or humor. Should these containers be seen as art or commodity; as the product of a reasoned aesthetic or junk?
‘In his trash-bin-shaped paintings, Oshiro adds the disorienting dimension of space to this equation. Visitors are tempted to mistakenly deposit litter into the work and in doing so, become keenly aware of how their perception of the trash bin, and its value in the exhibition, shifts accordingly.’ — Asia Society
‘I’m interested in these objects I see that at first irritate, then we ignore. I remember and reformat them by using the painter’s vocabulary. Thus, ideally my objects may be placed in any condition at any place without identification that labels the objects as art. Hopefully, my works transcend the chaotic aspect within our ambience as does environmental noise.’ — Kaz Oshiro
Further
Kaz Oshiro @ Wikipedia
KO @ Perrotin Gallery
Ko @ Galerie Frank Elbaz
Kaz Oshiro: Home Anthology
Kaz Oshiro’s “Painting Problem”
Studio Visit: Kaz Oshiro
Kaz Oshiro: Everyday Objects Made of Canvas
Artist’s doing well down in the dumpsters
Kaz Oshiro by Kaz Oshiro
Beyond Paintbrushes: Creating Art with Kaz Oshiro
Let’s Get Real About The Deceiving Art of Kaz Oshiro
Extras
Kaz Oshiro at Yvon Lambert, NYC (Nov 2009)
Kaz Oshiro & John Wiese at Art Catalogues January 25, 2015
The Backs
Interview
Paul Schmelzer: Tell me about your earliest works. Did you start with more traditional painting: flat canvases on the wall?
Kaz Oshiro: Right. I remember back in the early ’70s, when I was still a young teenager, I went to a burger joint near my house, and there was a photorealist poster, an American diner, Richard Estes–type reproduction. I was wondering if it was a photo or a painting. I still remember that. That was an early interest in contemporary art….
In 1986, I came to the United States, to Los Angeles, to see what’s going on. Then I started going to school there.
Schmelzer: Did you go through an abstraction phase, or did you always stick with that initial impulse for realism?
Oshiro: When I was in high school, I was into Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, that kind of Pop Art. Then I started to study art and got to know all different kinds of ideas, like John Cage or Nam June Paik–that kind of conceptualism–as well as West Coast Pop like Ed Ruscha. When I started, I was mimicking Andy Warhol: Pop on two-dimensional canvases.
Then I started to question myself. Everything’s been pretty much done. Abstract or representational: it doesn’t really matter, it’s pretty much done. Jackson Pollock and de Kooning, they kind of nailed it, and that was the end of painting, in a sense. Even if you have a conventional canvas, you don’t have to paint it. The format itself really tells it’s a piece of art.
But I wanted to continue my practice somehow, and I started to think: what’s left that I can do to satisfy my soul? Since the canvas itself is a work of art, I wanted to make painting that is discreet. Like a suitcase left on the floor: probably, people wouldn’t notice what it is because I leave it in the corner. Before they find out it’s a painting, they walk away. I think that would be a great compliment.
As a student, I was really passive. I didn’t feel right telling people, “Hey, this is what I’m doing.” So I tended to get away from that kind of exhibitionism. I thought that by making an object out of a canvas I’d be able to achieve what I want to do, which is practice making things physically. But at the same time, I wouldn’t have to explain much: it’s a still life sitting on the floor. It’s a painting. Since it doesn’t look like a conventional painting, people just walk away. I felt better, because I didn’t have to explain. I was able to physically be able to make the work to satisfy my soul.
Schmelzer: Why not be a sculptor? Why the resistance?
Oshiro: If I could paint without any hesitation, I’d do it, really. I think the abstract painting is one of the highest forms of art. But in order to get there, you have to deal with so many historical issues. For me, it’s: how can I paint like de Kooning or without any hesitation? That’s how I started; I can’t really paint without hesitation, so I started out as a representational artist, making representational art, but at the same time I thought I’d be able to manipulate this idea of abstraction. When you see the surface–the scuff marks and scratches and everything–I’m actually making abstract marks, in a way.
Schmelzer: There are some great conversations that are going on between art objects in this show: your suitcase relating to Warhol’s boxes, your dumpster to Fontana’s work. Talk about your stereo speakers and how they related to Donald Judd.
Oshiro: The idea really comes from Donald Judd, how they’re installed. Every time I saw a Donald Judd piece, I started to see big speakers on the walls. Then I said, OK, and wanted to make a painting that mimicked the idea of Minimalism. That’s what it is.
Schmelzer: What about the dumpster? How do you select which objects you choose to make into paintings?
Oshiro: If you know the construction of a painting, you have a wood frame and you stretch canvas over it. So that structure is kind of important, and you can’t really go beyond that. The objects I’m making are boxes. If you see the conventional painting frame, it’s kind of thin. But in my case, wood stretcher bars become a box and then I stretch canvas over it.
I’ve been making trash bins and dumpsters for awhile. Sometimes I’m not sure why. Somehow I’m really attracted to it. You see dumpsters everywhere in the United States on the street. I drive around town. In LA, I have to drive everywhere. Somehow I always see things on the street, and everything’s coming from my memory.
Why I paint them? First of all, I like the shape of the metal big box. You see all kinds of marks on it. The [form of the] dumpster allows me to paint the way abstract painters do. That’s one of the things I like about painting dumpsters. To me, it’s existing between representation and abstract painting.
Show
Microwave Ovens (2013 – 2019)
Black Upholstery (2012)
Dumpsters (2009 – 2017)
Zero Case (Large), 2015
Cabinets (2005 – 2014)
Kitchen (2015)
Trash Bins (2003 – 2011)
Sink (2015)
Amps (2004 – 2013)
California Souvenir (UNARIUS), 2006
Washer Dryers (2005 – 2007)
Boxes (2020)
Steel Beams (2016)
Bumper (2016)
Fridges (2010 – 2012)
Tailgate (2006)
File Cabinets (2008 – 2018)
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p.s. Hey. ** chas, Hi. I’m so sorry you’re feeling gloom. You can disperse some here if you want, it’s not a problem and quite the contrary. But obviously do what you think is best. It’s great talking with you, so feel more than free to come back at a hat’s drop. It will be a pleasure anytime. Take good care. ** Dominik, Hi!!! On second thought, they seem to do a lot of street work here during the days too, so never mind, I guess. Yesterday my whole neighborhood was blocked off because the Tour de France dudes cycled down a street a block from me on their way to victory and defeat. True, unless we could handpick who gets to go to the melted cheese beach. And if we can stand on the outskirts holding a giant pair of tongs. I support love’s designation of illegality in that regard. Yow. Love making the use of the term Barbenheimer illegal, G. ** Tosh Berman, Indeed, whoop! ** Dan Babcock, Whoa, hi, Dan! How awesome to have you here, my old pal. How are you? I read that you’re moving to New Orleans, no? Seems sweet. Hugs galore to you. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. Wow, you’re going to be a USA supporter? I saw clips and they did seem very worthy. ** Bill, Ha ha, you and Grace Paley as soul mates, I like it! ** Steve Erickson, Hi. I’m for saving ‘Oppenheimer’ for a plane flight. His films are too hollow and razzle dazzle-filled for me, although on a long flight, that’s plenty. Your computer is a needy little thing. Nice future album title, need I say. ** Brendan, Speaking of people who rock! ** T. J., Hi. I haven’t seen the last several Garrels, so I shouldn’t judge, but it always pains me when an experimentalist adopts the conventions that one had thought he was working against. Ha ha, so I heard about Louis’s film. How was your weekend? ** Mark, Hi. Sheree’s a very old pal of mine, as you probably know. A portrait, nice. I think she’s in London right now or something. Thank you for the B/O reviews. I do retain a slight curiosity about B. And it is on one of my illegal streaming sites. Yeah, I saw that Sparks played almost the exact same set at the Bowl that they did in Paris, minus one song (‘Escalator’) and it was sublime city here, so I can imagine. Nice. What’s your week? ** Cody Goodnight, Hi, Cody. I think I’m fine, thanks, you? I think probably the best Acker to start with is ‘Blood and Guts in High School’. My favorite is ‘Great Expectations’. My fave Burtons are ‘Ed Wood’ and ‘Mars Attacks!’. I don’t think I’ve read ‘The Gashlycrumb Tinies’, but that title is a total magnet. Anyone who’s made bored and miserable by ‘Female Trouble’ should be exiled. I love early XTC, up through ‘English Settlement’. ‘School in the Crosshairs’: on it. Thank you! I really need to start intaking more and outputting less. Well, actually I can’t output less right now, so then maybe finding a better balance. Very big Monday to you. ** Darbi 🦧, Iow = In other words. My go-to supermarket item? Hm, maybe Uncle Ben’s ‘two minutes in the microwave’ Rice lately. On a rice fan jag. I think I understand the paralysed thing. Sometimes I think I have that with the chair I sit in that faces my laptop. Older literature, sure, sometimes. Not so very much pre-1950s, I guess. Probably from all the forced reading of the classics in school. I definitely do like new(er) books more. But of course ‘Dorian Gray’, et. al., yes, great stuff. Transcends its oldness. ** Gray_gary, Wow, that was nice. That was like a thing in and of itself. Good, be around, ‘cos the missing goes both ways. xo. ** Kyler, Hi, Kyler. I saw your email. I’m await the book’s arrival. Not as of right now (9:41 am Monday morning), but I’m peeled. Thanks, and congrats! ** Okay. I decided to give the cool LA illusionist artist Kaz Oshiro a show in my galerie. So have a wander and gander please. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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Hi!!
Thank you for today’s show! It was nice walking around there.
Oh, that must’ve been fun! Having your whole neighborhood blocked off because of the Tour de France.
Okay, yes. If we get to handpick who gets stuck in the melted cheese beaches, I’m all up for the sight!
YES! Thank you, love! I really don’t understand this incredible hype, and although running into GIFs and analyses doesn’t bother me, the whole “happy Barbenheimer” thing is just horrible. Love giving you one personality trait you think you lack – what shall it be? Od.
The galerie is my fave gallery and Kaz Oshiro is a worthy guest. This stuff reminds me of Thomas Demand, another artist whose work I like a lot.
Re the women’s World Cup, it was Japan who beat Zambia 5-0 the other day and they now have my support. USA are guaranteed to be good, though.
I adore Kaz Oshiro’s work, as I adore him as well. Lun*na and I are both fans of his art. We (well, my father) and Kaz share the same French gallery as well.
Dennissss — thank you to all yr enlighted/perverted Commenters and to yoo for fun post. The final (sort-of) launch event for The Complete Fear of Kathy Acker is Wednesday at Poetic Research Bureau in L.A. with Amy Gerstler, Benjamin Weissman, John Tottenham, Jackie Wang, plus MC Lily Lady and I’ll perform FOKA bits to mezmerizing videos. Then at last the hype relents… xoxoxo
OMG! José and I will try to swing by the event at Poetic Research Bureau on Wednesday.
For Slant Magazine, I reviewed Georgia’s IT’S EUPHORIC: https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/georgia-its-euphoric-album-review/
Oshiro’s reversal of Duchamp by creating simulated found objects is a brilliant concept.
I’m writing the last song on SOCIOPATHIC EASY LISTENING now. It was influenced by Lukas Goransson’s OPPENHEIMER score, especially his use of footsteps as percussion. (No conventional drums or percussion instruments were used.) I sampled footsteps, although they sound more like the crackles of scratched vinyl.
I have figured out the computer problem. My USB hub is now ancient, and since it draws power from the computer itself, it’s actually slowing down the laptop. I ordered a new hub, which arrives Wednesday. In the meantime, I can plug in my speakers or the mouse, but not both at the same time.
It’s Gonna Be Another Hot Day
Leave ItToJane</A.
Hi Dennis.
How are you? I’m doing well. Interesting post, today. Kaz Oshiro is a fascinating artist, and I admire what he can do with everyday objects. Thank you! I shall start with that novel, and work my way up when I get a chance. Those are fun Burton films. Kinda shocked Mars Attacks isn’t as well known. It’s really dark and fun. The Gashlycrumb Tinies is a fun, morbid alphabet song of various deaths of children. It’s classic Gorey. I agree. I don’t trust many people who find John Waters annoying. I really dig XTC. I watched Obayashi’s The Little Girl Who Conquered Time last night and loved it. Another recommendation alongside School in the Crosshairs. I went shopping today. I bought Criterion blu ray copies of Daisies, Eve’s Bayou and The Watermelon Woman, as well as an Arrow blu of To Sleep as to Dream and a steelbook of De Palma’s Carrie. I also bought a copy of Mikhail Buigarov’s The Master and the Margarita, and a copy of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I’m currently listening to Portishead’s album Dummy, which I’m really enjoying. Will probably watch Jacques Deray’s La Piscine tonight to honor Jane Birkin. A shame Alain Delon is so beautiful and has such hateful views. Have a great day or night, Dennis!
Ive manifested a new friend. I have no friends here. But he’s really nice, like this extension of myself. He’s 16. His names Allen he’s sleeping and he’s at peace. Im really happy because its been something ive wanted for so long. I think everything will be ok because now he is no longer just some longing but a human even if he isnt noticable to other ppl.
guh. um. I feel weird now. There’s two boys my age in the program. They texted me if I wanted to have a threesome a while ago. The worst part is its not even the first time this has happened to me. So many bad things happen but it doesn’t mean I can become used to it. Im not a robot. Im just a human. things will always hurt. Nothin will ever change that, no matter what a person can go through.
It hurts especially because I was just starting to feel like a lover again.
There’s this really nice guy here he has long grey hair and he gave me a whole box of sculpting clay and im going to USE ALL OF IT AHHH!! He’s really nice and an artist, quiet,
I started making something earlier today. It looks cool, im sort of inspired by some cosmic entity like Lovecraftian thingie.
Do u do art? Or have you?
Omg. I thought IOW meant Iowa. I was like: why is he talking about Iowa lol.
You like yellow rice? Hispanic food? AAHH there’s this EL Salvadorian dish called “Papusa” and its so fucking good and you can just sample the meat for beans like I do! I really wish I was in touch with my culture+ family. I used to visit them in Miami and I feel like this funny fake Hispanic because, honestly I look super pale and cant even speak spanish haha! That’s why im so fucking short too lmao, my dad is like 5.4.
Speaking of hispanic shit maybe you’ll find this kind of funny? :3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Pv3V1m7_A
Lots of love from inside your fav Hispanic dish! (If you have one?)🌮
Darby + (Allen)–
Is there anyone with some power/authority who’s got your back where you are? In case those guys get creepy (or, even creepier, from what it sounds like– You sound really uncomfortable about them)? Seriously, I’m hearing you here, and I don’t know if DC will read this response but I’m going to tell him to pass my e-mail to you if you ever ask for it. I’m ‘state-side’, if-you-will, and I’m listening– If you need someone to speak up for you, say the word, okay?
Be amazingly well– Kettering
P.S. You are, from what I’ve seen here, amazing already. You really, really are. -k
I think Sheree was in the UK for the London installment of this years’ Tom of Finland Foundation Arts and Culture Festival last weekend. She’s great. We did an eight week creative writing workshop together a few years back. She cut my arm as part of a performance once, but I’m a good healer, so it’s basically invisible now. Wednesday night we are going to the opening of this show, Decoding Americana’s Queer Sensibilities. And now, we are also going to swing by Poetic Research Bureau for Jack’s thingy. This weekend is the final push to get the DC zine done. And if we are good zine monkeys, we are going to the the Bowl to see this: https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/events/performances/2323/2023-07-30/everybody-rise-a-sondheim-celebration I know… we’re musical theater fag/nerds – lol! We are gearing up for Athens in August, hopefully it won’t just be a pile of smoking ashes, but I’m assuming marble doesn’t burn too well. Hopefully LA will be catching on fire just as we leave and Athens might be smoldering out? You gotta love the 21st Century – it’s totally hot!
Hey Dennis– I’m not loving what I’m hearing from Darby’s world– guys making propositions they (Darbz) don’t like, etc. I’ve told them that they can ask you for my e-mail if things get really creepy in that place– my permission is given here. Many thanks -ke
P.s. Hope you’re super well…xo