Electric Tokyo © Carl Randall
I always pop into the National Portrait Gallery over the summer to see the pictures in the annual BP Portrait Award. It’s a popular exhibition and it’s fun choosing a favourite picture. But this year I went particularly to see the 2012 Travel Award winner – Carl Randall, who was commissioned by the Portrait Gallery to paint the people and places along the Tokaido Road (the ancient route between Tokyo and Kyoto) and whose exhibition In the footsteps of Hiroshige: Portraits of Modern Japan is part of the Portrait Award show.
Sushi © Carl Randall
Carl Randall’s connection with Japan goes back a long way. After graduating from the Slade School of Art he was awarded a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation scholarship in 2003 to continue his painting career in Tokyo. He was selected to be artist in residence in Hiroshima city, painting portraits of survivors of the Atomic Bomb and also completed a Masters and Doctorate in Painting at Tokyo University of Fine Arts where he won the 2011 Nomura Art Prize.
Sumo © Carl Randall
Randall often paints in monotone, producing large canvases of densely packed groups of faces in which every face is a portrait painted directly from life, without use of photographs – over a thousand volunteers in Tokyo sat for him. The portraits are assembled into a picture of Tokyo life, each one a face in the crowd, living their own private lives separate from each other even as they jostle together in the busy street.
Rainy Season © Carl Randall
Tokyo Triptych © Carl Randall
His smaller pictures show a few figures, sometimes just a couple, sometimes more, in everyday environments. They go sightseeing in Kyoto, visit the hot spring, ride the bullet train past Mount Fuji, mobile phone in hand, all with the same impenetrable expressions on their faces.
Kyoto © Carl Randall
Onsen © Carl Randall
Hakone © Carl Randall
There’s a sense of alienation in his pictures – there’s no way of telling what’s going on in these people’s minds. The background, precise as it is, gives you no clue as to their inner lives. Are they happy or sad? We can only guess.
Rice Farmer’s daughters © Carl Randall
Zen Garden © Carl Randall
There’s a fascination in not being able to penetrate behind the mask. If you get the chance, do drop in to see the pictures for yourself.
Besides the exhibition of his travel award work Randall also has a picture in the 2013 Portrait Award exhibition. Titled Shinjuku, it’s a large monochrome group portrait in oil on canvas of the crowds that pass through Shinjuku station, the busiest station in the world.
Shinjuku © Carl Randall
Now, credit where credit’s due – I found out about Carl Randall’s exhibition from fellow blogger, Karolyn Cooper, who has a wonderful blog about Bangalore called Distant Drumlin – well worth a visit.
The BP Portrait Award show is at the National Portrait Gallery until September 15th. Entry is free.
My thanks to Carl Randall, who gave me permission to use his images. You can see more on his website and there is a film on Vimeo of him painting some of the portraits. There is also a colour catalogue of his pictures, called Japan Portraits, on sale at the Hayward Gallery shop.
Alienation is a pretty good word to sum up the people in these pictures and the overall composition. Everybody is on their phone and disconnected from others and their surroundings.
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Yes, it’s quite unsettling, isn’t it.
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I’ve just bought the catalogue of this exhibition – amazing work! 🙂
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I knew you’d know about it! Did you get the chance to have a look at the exhibition when you were up for Hyper Japan?
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Wow! Impenetrable mask is an apt description. I like that he borrows from many different influences to create something unique.
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Yes, it’s interesting stuff. Hopefully you’ll be back in London before the exhibition closes.
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The facial expression, or rather the lack of it really depicts the sense of listlessness and alienation all around. Thanks for this amazing coverage. 🙂
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I’m glad you like it! 🙂
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It’s cool to see my casual suggestion turned into such a great blog post!
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Thanks for your help!
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Fascinating art, and a study in inscrutability ;). I gather Carl Randall has some other exhibitions in the offing in the coming months, and I’ll try to get to see one or two of those, as well as the stuff currently at the NPG. Thanks for the post, as I’d never been aware of Carl Randall’s art before…:)
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Yes, as you’ve probably seen there are details of other exhibitions on Carl’s website. His stuff was new to me too!
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Amazing that all the faces look so peculiarly Japanese as opposed to other Asians.
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Yes, it hadn’t struck me before, but you’re right!
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Great artwork – thanks for bringing it to our attention!
Thank you also for visiting and liking my post on the grizzled squirrel.
Dorinda
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Thanks! The grizzled squirrel was lovely!
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‘Japan Portraits’ catalogue no longer in stock at National Portrait gallery shop (due to 2013 BP Portrait Awards finishing(, but now available at The Hayward Gallery shop, The South Bank Centre, London:
https://shop.southbankcentre.co.uk/carl-randall-japan-portraits
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Thanks for letting us know, Carl.
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My pleasure. If you were to modify the link in your article to the hayward gallery rather than npg, i would be grateful. please come to see my solo show at the daiwa anglo japanese foundation jan 16 – march 12 next year
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Done – good luck with the show!
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