Shigeru Izumi "PAINTINGS 1971-93"

Feb 24 - Mar 26, 2017
Venue | Yoshimi Arts, the three konohana

Yoshimi Arts
11:00-19:00
Closed | Tue, Wed, and Mar 16 - 20
Bldg. 3F, 1-8-24, Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka
1 minute walk from exit 6 of Higobashi Station (Yotsubashi Line, Osaka Municipal Subway)
5 minutes walk from exit 12 of Yodoyabashi Station (Midousuji Line, Osaka Municipal Subway)

the three konohana
12:00-19:00
Closed | Mon, Tue, and Wed
1-23-23-2F, Baika, Konohana-ku, Osaka
3 minutes walk from Chidoribashi Station (Namba Line, Hanshin Electric Railway)
9 minutes walk from Nishikujo Station (Namba Line, Hanshi Electric Railway/Loop Line, JR)
the three konohana website (Japanese) | http://thethree.net

Yoshimi Arts and the three konohana will host a joint exhibition of Shigeru Izumi (1922-1995), a distinguished artist who represents the contemporary art world in the Kansai region of Japan in the latter half of the 20th century.

Born in Osaka, Izumi had started his career as a painter. Right after the war in 1951, he set up the avant-garde art group “Democratic Artists Association” together with Ei-Q and other artists, and energetically promoted activities as its leading member. It is around this time when he began to work on engravings. He received the Newcomer’s Award at the 1st International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo, emerging head and shoulders as an artist in Japan. From 1959, he spent about a decade in New York and Paris, and built up his own style of expression, strongly influenced by the western art scene of the time. After returning to Japan, he continued his creative activities until his later years focused on his painting and engraving techniques. He was also appointed as a professor at the Osaka University of Arts and had nurtured and produced many artists since then, significantly contributing to the maturation of the contemporary art scene in the Kansai region in the latter half of the 20th century.

In this exhibition we focus on and introduce his paintings. The works produced in the 1970’s right after returning to Japan after his time in New York and Paris will be exhibited in Yoshimi Arts, and the works from the 1980’s until his late years will be exhibited in the three konohana. His remaining works mainly consist of print works, and many other past exhibitions held in other museums and galleries around the country were more likely to explore his engravings as the focus of the exhibitions. This time we look at Izumi’s paintings, that had been the source of his creation and the foundation of his expression, in order to delve into the root of his artistic expression.

During the exhibition, a large-scale retrospective exhibition of Izumi, entitled, “Handsome Heart, Handsome Art: The World of Izumi Shigeru” will be held at the Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama (January 27th - March 26th). Furthermore, we will invite the curator Ms. Hisami Ueno, who organized the retrospective, to hold talks at the three konohana on March 4th.

It seems that current Japanese contemporary art is at a transitional stage due to the fluid social changes and media diversity employed for art works. At the same time, there is an increasing momentum to connect the two centuries in the historical context by reconsidering and re-evaluating contemporary art in the latter half of the 20th century.  As a proponent to bridge the eras of the Kansai art scene, it is our greatest pleasure to present this exhibition as an opportunity to uncover the essence from Izumi’s works that relates to contemporary artistic expressions. We look forward to your visit.

*image | 《JF10035》　1971　oil, canvas　 130.3×162.0cm　【exhibited in Yoshimi Arts】

■Related Event
Talk　"Handsome Heart, Handsome Art: The World of Izumi Shigeru"
Date｜Mar 4 (sat), 15:00-16:30
Venue｜the three konohana
Appearance｜Hisami Ueno　（curator of The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama)
Japanese talk, Free, No reservation is needed

《title is unkonwn》　1975　oil, canvas　 162.0 x 130.3 cm　【exhibited in Yoshimi Arts】

《recessed oval》　1981　oil, canvas　 162.0 x 130.3 cm 　【exhibited in the three konohana】

《cloud-shape》　1993　acrylic paint, canvas　 162.0 x 260.6 cm　 【exhibited in the three konohana】