Vincent van Dog

ULALA IMAI (B. 1982)

Vincent van Dog

signed, titled, dated '2022 VINCENT VAN DOG Ulala Imai' (on the reverse)

oil on canvas

76 3/8 x 51 1/4 inches (194 x 130.2 cm)

Painted in 2022.

PROVENANCE:

Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles

Acquired from the above by the present owner

NOTES:

Born in 1982 in Kanagawa, Japan, Ulala Imai lives and works in Tokyo. A graduate of Tama Art University, where she completed both her BFA and Doctoral Program, Imai has become widely recognized for her quietly luminous paintings that transform everyday subjects into poetic reflections on contemporary life. Working primarily from her home studio, she draws on her immediate surroundings—children’s toys, domestic spaces, and familiar foods—to construct images that oscillate between the ordinary and the uncanny. Her work has been exhibited internationally, with recent solo exhibitions at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels, Karma in New York, and Nonaka-Hill in Los Angeles and Kyoto, and is represented in major museum collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the He Art Museum in Guangdong.

Imai’s practice is distinguished by its sensitivity to light, touch, and mood. Painting with thin, fluid layers of oil, she renders her subjects with a precision that feels both intimate and dreamlike. Figures and objects often appear softened at the edges, as if seen through memory rather than direct observation. By elevating overlooked subjects, such as stuffed animals, simple meals, or familiar gestures, she reveals the quiet emotional charge of daily experience. Her imagery often carries a subtle humor and self-awareness, blending affection with irony in a way that is inspired by and recalls Édouard Manet’s approach to realism.

Painted in 2022, Vincent van Dog embodies Imai’s wit and tenderness in equal measure. The composition features a stuffed-toy dog standing in tall grass before a cactus and a serene seascape. The dog is missing one ear, a gentle nod to the legacy of Vincent van Gogh. The scene feels bright and tranquil, bathed in the soft daylight that characterizes much of Imai’s work. The painting distills her ability to find warmth, humor, and quiet poignancy within familiar forms, transforming a simple, whimsical subject into a meditation on empathy, imagination, and the enduring connection between art and play.