If you’re about to buy a banana tree, stop! Real ones are a hassle to look after, and they won’t flourish indoors, but a synthetic version by Japanese multimedia artist Yutaka Sone will – in fact it will arguably be better than the real thing, apart from producing bananas…
The struggle between perfection and realism is what drives Sone’s work, fuelled by an attention to detail that would normally be treated medically. Impossible to pigeonhole, the Shizuoka-born artist’s sculptures cover the natural world and architecture, and he is also accomplished in painting and drawing, photography, video, and performance. The David Zwirner gallery is hosting Sculpture, an exhibition of Sone’s work including Little Manhattan, a two-and-a-half ton marble representation of the New York island that fuses the man-made and natural elements into one organic whole, with the piers extended to almost limitless depths like fissures in a geological formation. There will also be examples of Sone’s banana and palm trees, as well as canvas paintings, and the show will run from 27 November to 25 January.
Yutaka Sone
Sky and Palm Tree Head #4, 2013
Acrylic on canvas
84 x 94 inches (213.4 x 238.8 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Portrait of Yutaka Sone
in his Los Angeles studio
Photo by Grant Delin
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yutaka Sone
Tropical Composition / Banana tree no4, 2008-2010
Rattan, metal armature, and paint
93 x 113 x 118 inches
(236.2 x 287 x 299.7 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yutaka Sone
Hong Kong Island (Chinese), 1998
Marble
25 5/8 x 47 x 31 inches
(65 x 120 x 80 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yutaka Sone
Little Manhattan (detail), 2007-2009
Marble
21 3/4 x 104 3/8 x 33 1/2 inches
(55 x 265 x 85 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yutaka Sone
Sky and Palm Tree Head #5, 2013
Acrylic on canvas
85 x 102 1/2 inches (215.9 x 260.4 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yutaka Sone with Baby Banana Tree,
installed at Pasadena City College
Photo by Grant Delin
Yutaka Sone
Baby Banana Tree, 2007-2008
Rattan, fiberglass, resin, acrylic paint and stainless steel
300 x 180 x 180 inches (762 x 457.2 x 457.2 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yutaka Sone
Sky and Palm Tree Head #2, 2012
Acrylic on canvas
59 x 77 inches (149.9 x 195.6 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yutaka Sone
Little Manhattan (detail), 2007-2009
Marble
21 3/4 x 104 3/8 x 33 1/2 inches
(55 x 265 x 85 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
