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Artwork photographs by Adam Reich

HARUOMI IZUMI


Born in 1979 in Chiba, Japan
Lives and works in Chiba, Japan


Haruomi Izumi is a successor of “Nihonga,” the Japanese-style painting which has been practiced over centuries. The word Nihonga was developed as the opposite or counter word, to the word Yo-ga, or Western painting, and is often characterized by the use of traditional materials such as mineral pigments, a binder made of animal glue, washi paper, as well as the choice of subject matter such as nature and animals. Izumi studied Nihonga at Tokyo University of the Arts. Izumi’s signature works, including Yukoku (The Scarlet Hour) and Sokoku (The Blue Hour), depart from traditional Nihonga and combine surreal color with obsessively repetitive patterns of trees. In this way, Izumi creates deeply textured scenes that encompass their surroundings and engulf the viewer with their rich aura.


“Nature has a perfect beauty and I don’t find it interesting to only copy it in my painting,” says Izumi. "I pursue new beauty by eliminating randomness and creating patterns from a single motif and then simplifying elements I find in nature.” Izumi’s works are included in the collections of The Sato Sakura Art Museum, Chiba Bank, Keiyo Bank, and Hulic Co., Ltd. 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016

Solo Exhibition (Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo) 


2014

Solo Exhibition (Chiba Bank Himawari Gallery, Tokyo) 


2013

Solo Exhibition (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo) 


2011

Solo Exhibition (Keiyo Bank, Chiba, until 2014) 


2010

Solo Exhibition (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi) 


2009

Solo Exhibition (Chiba Bank Art Gallery, Tokyo)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019

Reimagined: Contemporary Artists Take on The Tale of Genji (SEIZAN Gallery, New York)


2018

Nihonga: Contemporary Art of Japan (SEIZAN Gallery, New York)
DELTA (Fukuoka Mitsukoshi, Fukuoka)
Spring Soga-ten (Seibu Ikebukuro, Tokyo)
Nikitama (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo)
DELTA (Sapporo Mitsukoshi, Hokkaido)
DELTA (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi)


2017

The Red Men (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo) 
Delta Nihonga Sannin-ten (Niigata Mitsukoshi, Niigata)


2016

Asahi Charity Bijutsuten (Matsuya Ginza, until 2019)
20th Anniversary Special Exhibition (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo)
DELTA (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi)


2015

ShinPA in Suwa (Kitazawa Art Museum, Nagano)
Art Wonderland (Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo)


2014

Haon no Kai (Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, continued every year afterward)
Mitsukoshi x Geidai Art Fair Tokyo 2014 (Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo)


2013

Ouka Prize Exhibition (Sato Sakura Art Museum, Tokyo, until 2017)
Venice Biennale Imago Mundi: Collection of Luciano Benneton (Venice)
Sensu-ten (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo) 


2012

Wakate Sakka Nihonga-ten: Kore Kara (Hiroshima)
Wakate Sakka Nihonga-ten: Kaleidoscope (Shinsaibashi, Osaka, continued every year afterward)
Mitsukoshi x Geidai, Natsu no Geijutsusai 2012 (Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo)


2011

Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Recovery Charity Auction (Tokyo Art Club, Tokyo)


2010

Haru wo Aideru Egaten (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo)
Something Precious (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, held every year since)


2009

Tokyo Contemporary Art Fair (Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo)


2008

Kanami no Kai (Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, until 2012)


2006

Sakka no Tamago-ten (Obuse Museum, Nagano, name later changed to ShinPA! and continued yearly)
L'Espoir (Ginza)


2005

Hato no Kai (Ginza Matsuya, Tokyo, Nagoya Matsuya, Aichi, held every year since)

AWARDS

2006

Design award for Graduate Thesis Work (Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo)


2005

The 15th Garyu Sakura Nihonga Taishoten, Honorable Mention (Gifu)

PUBLICATIONS

2012

Regular column in Technical Seminar material, Bijutsu no Mado, 
March, April, and May

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Sato Sakura Art Museum, Chiba Bank, Keiyo Bank, and Hulic Co.,Ltd.

EXHIBITIONS

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Nihonga: Contemporary Art of Japan

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Reimagined: Contemporary Artists Take on The Tale of Genji

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