is a contemporary Japanese painter who has been recognized as a part of the Tokyo-Pop movement.
He specializes in
Nihonga
''Nihonga'' (, "Japanese-style paintings") are Japanese paintings from about 1900 onwards that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials. While based on traditions over a thousand years ...
painting (literally "Japanese painting"). However, instead of the traditional scenic imagery of Nihonga, his paintings focus on abstract and recognizable elements. Oftentimes his artwork consists of dreams, altered realities and childlike fantasies. They consist of both abstract and concrete elements and are also influenced by both Eastern and Western paintings.
Early life
Hiroshi Sugito was born in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
, Japan, in 1970. In 1993 he graduated from the
Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. He is a former student of
Yoshitomo Nara
is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Los Angeles Coun ...
(born 1959). He joined Yoshitomo in 1997 in an exhibition entitled “Over the Rainbow”.
Work
Hiroshi Sugito’s work tends to focus on Japanese painting with a Western influence. A lot of his imagery has a sense of “Kawaii”—which means "cute" in Japanese—and intertwines this idea with a sense of weirdness or eerie displacement. “I start moving my brush like walking into the woods, away from everything, and I want words and meanings to lose their power and just fade away.
Solo exhibitions
Sugito has had several solo exhibitions in Japan and internationally.
Some of his earlier exhibitions include:
*Kind of Blue, Hakuto-sha, Nagoya, Japan
*“Hanging” GeleriaVilaca, SaoPaolo/ Paco Imperial, Rio de Janeiro
*Heaven and Hell, Hara Museum, Gunma Tokyo Station Gallery, Japan
*Paintings and Sketches, Japan Creative Center, Singapore, 2011
*Needle and Thread at Tomio Koyama Gallery Tokyo Japan, 2011
*the orange tree, Kenji Taki Gallery, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, 2012
*Crazy for Painting vol.9 Masato KOBAYASHI + Hiroshi SUGITO, gallery αM, Tokyo, Japan, 2013
Group exhibitions
Sugito has also participated in several group exhibitions, including one with Yoshitomo Nara in 1997, titled Over the Rainbow. Other group exhibitions include Tomio Koyama Gallery, TOLOT/heuristic Shinonome, Tokyo, Japan and Birds, Beast and FlowersGalerie Zink, Berlin, Germany.
[
]
References
External links
Tomio Koyama Gallery
Taguchi Art Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugito, Hiroshi
1970 births
Living people
Japanese contemporary artists