Masaaki Sato
American, born Japan, born 1949Untitled, n.d.
Not on view
Oil on canvas
Dimensions72 × 52 in. (182.9 × 132.1 cm)
Gift of Jesse and Amie Karp, 2007.112
Masaaki Sato's newsstand imagery grows out of an ongoing processing of visual information inspired by living in New York surrounded by it's vibrant culture. In his paintings, the artist seeks to remove barriers and broaden horizons by exposing the viewer to foreign ideas and notions of perception. With singular concentration and seriousness of purpose, he pointedly critiques but also praises the consumer culture he observes.
Sato, born in Japan, explores an entire range of expressive possibilities by constantly recombining new texts and images on the covers of the magazines illusionistically exhibited upon his newsstand racks. Sato has stated that the newsstand motif may thus serve as a metaphor for language, since language is likewise subjected to continuous change, as it is being used in New York City by peoples of different origins and varying cultural backgrounds.
