Makoto FUJIMURA
1960, USA/Japan
Makoto Fujimura was born in 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts. Educated bi-culturally between the US and Japan, Fujimura graduated from Bucknell University in 1983, and received an M.F.A. from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with a Japanese Governmental Scholarship in 1989. His thesis painting was purchased by the university and he was invited to study in the Japanese Painting Doctorate program, a first for an outsider to this prestigious traditional program.
It was during the six and a half years of studying in Japan that Fujimura began to assimilate the combinations of abstract expressionism explored in the US with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga. Fujimura’s new book River Grace (www.rivergrace.com) , traces his journey of mastering Nihonga technique using carefully stone-ground minerals including azurite, malachite and cinnabar, and his deep wrestling with art and faith issues. Upon his return to the US, he began to exhibit his paintings in New York City, while continuing to show in Tokyo, and was honored in 1992 as the youngest artist ever to have had a piece acquired by Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
After 20 years as a successful artist in Japan and the U.S., Fujimura has become a voice of bi-cultural authority on the nature and cultural assessment of beauty, by both creating it and exploring its forms. His paintings address the creative process and explore what it means to see. The work moves the observer from cognitive categorization to visceral experience.
In 1990, Mr. Fujimura founded The International Arts Movement. IAM hosts a major conference in New York City every February, attracting notable speakers and performers such as Dana Gioia (poet, Chair of NEA), Patricia Heaton (actor), Rob Mathes Band, Miroslav Volf (theologian, Yale University), Elaine Scarry (author, Harvard University) and Daniel Libeskind (architect).
As an artist working from his studio near Ground Zero until the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Fujimura was deeply affected by the tragic events of that day. But his art continues to speak of hope even in darkness, and the deeper reconsideration of life\'s meaning. As an artist who travels widely, Fujimura recognizes the momentous changes the world is experiencing since those events, and the role of art in enabling people to reflect deeply, explore their feelings and become more profoundly aware. Some have experienced change for the better due to this awareness. In this regard he notes, \"my work constitutes one of many voices calling for change, and I am increasingly hopeful as I observe evidence that we are all in a larger process of re-examining ourselves.\"
His essay, The Fallen Towers and the Art of Tea, in soon to be released collection of essays called “Refractions”, can be accessed via this link. His post 9/11 curatorial efforts, to create an \"oasis of collaboration by local \'ground zero\' artists in hope of planting a seed of restoration for the downtown community,\' can be examined via www.tribecatemporary.com.
Critic David Gelertner wrote in A Faithful Art: Makoto Fujimura and the redemption of abstract expressionism: \"Makoto Fujimura\'s paintings are a joyful gusher from a well that had long run dry...(he is a) superb artist who does honor to the Japanese traditions he uses, and helps fan life back into several magnificent western traditions--traditions as new as abstract expressionism, as old as Christian art.\"
His works are represented by Dillon Gallery in New York as well as Tokyo (www.dillongallery.com). Public collections include The Saint Louis Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo and the Time Warner/ AOL/ CNN building in Hong Kong. He was appointed to the National Council on the Arts, a six year Presidential appointment, in 2003
Noted artist and critic Robert Kushner wrote, \"The idea of forging a new kind of art, about hope, healing, redemption, refuge, while maintaining visual sophistication and intellectual integrity is a growing movement, one which finds Fujimura\'s work at the vanguard.\"
Source: http://www.makotofujimura.com/main.html
日系アメリカ人として１９６０年に生まれたマコトフジムラは、国際文化交流の鋭い意識を持ちあわせつつ、何の既成概念や呪縛を持たぬまま日本へと日本画を学びに留学し、純粋に一つの表現手段として日本画に対峙した。彼の根本的なテーマである「人と芸術とのコミュニケーション」をバックグラウンドとして、日本画の顔料を用いて表現の可能性を探る、斬新でかつ信念を持った力強い作品を提示してきた。コレクションはセイントルイス美術館、東京芸術大学美術館、山口県立美術館、東京現代美術館など。ニューヨーク、サンタフェ、そして今回松屋銀座での個展など、広い視野で活動をしている。
また貿易センターから３ブロック近所の住民であるフジムラはこう書いた、「我々はその煙の中に希望を見い出さなければならない。あの崩壊するタワーをのぼって行く消防士達はいったいその勇気をどこから授かったのであろう。その犠牲の勇気に私は美の原点を見る。」その後、トライベッカテンポラリーといるプロジェクトをキューレートし、ニューヨークの芸術家が希望の「種」を見つける為に貢献した。
米雑誌アート イン アメリカ評論家でありアーチストのロバートクッシュナーはこう語っている。「ごく最近の現代美術では、社会風刺、利己主義、無関心を描く絵が支配的になっている。確かに、それは私達が直面している難題に対して一つの妥当な反応である。しかし、現実逃避を誘引するものは自己破壊になると感じている作家も多い。洗練された知性を保ちつつ、希望、癒し、救済、保護をテーマとするアートが今じょじょに新しいムーブメントとして起こりつつある。フジムラはその最先端を走る作家と言える。」