SEIZAN Gallery New York is pleased to announce Summer Group Show featuring four artists: Mizuho Fukumuro, Eri Iwasaki, Kenta Takahashi, and Junya Tsubota. Opening from June 29 through July 29, 2023, the show surveys contemporary Japanese artists who have trained in the “Nihonga” painting tradition. Explorations in new voices and creative expressions abound. 

Mizuho Fukumuro (b. 1980 in Ibaraki, Japan) studied Nihonga at the University of Tsukuba.  Working in acrylic paint, Fukumuro explores abstract expression with matte, muted colors. The artist states that her inspiration comes from natural phenomena such as lava flowing inside mountains, stratum deep in the sea, and water veins. Fukumuro: “Such activities are invisible to us. My work investigates how these phenomena relate to our being and emotions.” This is her first exhibition in the US. 

Eri Iwasaki (b. 1968 in Hyogo, Japan) is a master of portraits. Trained in Nihonga since high school, Iwasaki paints children and young girls often solitary and seated against an abstract background. Their innocent, yet strong-willed and contemplative expressions remind us of the Buddha statues in Kyoto, where the artist lives and works. A leading figure of contemporary Nihonga art, Iwasaki has exhibited works extensively in Japan and the US. The 2020 solo exhibition Tiny Night, Tiny Light was presented in SEIZAN Gallery New York.  

Kenta Takahashi (b.1996 in Aichi, Japan) studied Nihonga at Tokyo University of the Arts and is in the Master Program of Print Making. Takahashi’s signature "diamond steel plate” series is notable for ubiquitous urban scenes rendered in traditional painting materials of mineral pigment, silver leaf, and washi paper. They defy expectations and present new approaches to the concepts of abstraction and figurative, East and West, craftsmanship and industrialism. Takahashi’s works have been presented in exhibitions in Japan and the US. 

A seasoned Nihonga artist, Junya Tsubota (b. 1974 in Saitama, Japan) celebrates the four seasons of Japan in his work. Natural phenomena and forms, such as water and sky, are the primary focus of his work. Tsubota contrasts these elements with the use of artificially bright, unearthly colors. This melding of styles and subject matter brings new aspects of harmony into the space the painting is displayed in. Tsubota’s works have appeared in exhibitions across Asia, Europe, and North America, including the solo exhibition, Rhythm, in SEIZAN Gallery New York in 2022.  

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