‘first impressions: Paul Gauguin’ (2018) by Yuki Kihara

Artist Statement

Apia, Sāmoa - ‘First Impressions: Paul Gauguin’, written and directed by Yuki Kihara, is a 5-part episodic talk-show series capturing candid responses of a panel of members of Sāmoa’s fa’afafine community to select paintings by famed French artist Paul Gauguin.

Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a leading French post-Impressionist painter who was posthumously recognized for his experimental use of color and style, which stood apart from his contemporaries. His work was influential among the French avant-garde, and influenced later artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Gaugin gave up his family and life in France to move to Tahiti in 1891, where he lived and worked for several years as an artist. He eventually relocated to Marquesas where he died in 1903. Gauguin’s art became even more popular after his death and some of the paintings created during his time in the Pacific, are believed to feature Māhu – the Tahitian ‘third gender’. ‘First Impressions: Paul Gauguin’ features 5 of the works painted during Gauguin’s time in French Polynesia.

This series was moderated by Anastasia Fantasia Vancouver Stanley (aka Queen Hera), and features panelists Charlize Leo, Vanila Heather, Keli Tuatagaloa Laban, Dallas Siatini and Saunoa Poai (aka Sandora), who were only introduced to the paintings at the time of filming, in an attempt to capture as authentic and immediate a reaction as possible. The responses towards each painting vary and reflect the myriad opinions of individuals born and raised in Sāmoa, and are expressed in either Sāmoan or English. The fa’afafine cast express their varied views on Gauguin’s paintings which are believed to represent the artist’s Western perceptions of Indigenous Pacific/Tahitian culture, women and possibly fa’afafine.

‘First Impressions: Paul Gauguin’ (2018) was commissioned by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.

‘First Impressions: Paul Gauguin’ (2018) by Yuki Kihara is presented at the following institutions:

The Whitworth, Manchester
3 October 2025 – 1 March 2026

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
8 May 2025 – 6 December 2026

Sainsbury Centre, Norwich
15 March – 3 August 2025

Powerhouse Museum, Gadigal Land Sydney
24 March 2023 – 31 December 2023

59th La Biennale di Venezia Arte
27 September – 27 November 2022

Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
26 March 2022 – 10 July 2022

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
19 November 2020 – 23 June 2019

Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
17 November 2018 – 23 June 2019

Exhibition Still