Naofumi Maruyama
dal 7/6/2002 al 26/7/2002
Segnalato da
7/6/2002
Naofumi Maruyama
Thomas Erben Gallery, New York
The first exhibition of the Japanese painter, Naofumi Maruyama (b. 1964) in the US. Since his inclusion in Modest Radicalism in 1999 at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT), Tokyo, Maruyama has been considered one of the significant young painters in Japan.
Paintings
"Every now and then we see the crack of a dream in an everyday scene.
It may be a hope or a memory of the past. Because of it we can go on
living and - frequently - making mistakes."
Naofumi Maruyama - Tokyo, 1998
June 8 - July 26, 2002
Opening: Saturday, June 8, 6 - 8.30 pm
Thomas Erben is very pleased to present the first exhibition of the
Japanese painter, Naofumi Maruyama (b. 1964) in the US. Since his
inclusion in Modest Radicalism in 1999 at The Museum of Contemporary
Art (MOT), Tokyo, Maruyama has been considered one of the significant
young painters in Japan.
On view will be a series of paintings with children as subject
matter. Maruyama paints his figures directly onto the unprimed
canvas in the tradition of Japanese ink painting and surrounds them
with luminous monochrome expanses. He develops his subject matter in
a reductive fashion, sometimes overpainting existing imagery. The
material presence of the built up backgrounds plays paradoxically
against the figurative "foregrounds" which appear almost cut out.
Recently, he has added flat, graphic outlines describing figures or
objects as a third element to his vocabulary.
Maruyama has worked over extended periods in Germany. Influences of
Romanticism, his own interests in fairy tales and legends and his
dreamy, mysterious figurative style are offset by formal elements of
pop art and comics. In this body of work, he captures an
alternative sensibility, closer to dream states, using the imagery of
children as a metaphor for innocence and unity with the self.
Since the early '90s Maruyama's work has been included in major
exhibitions such as
October Art Festival Mito Art Tower, Ibaraki, Japan 1990
A Perspective on Contemporary Art The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo 1993
Creativity in Asian Art Now Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima 1994
Continental Shift Forum Ludwig, Aachen, Germany 2000
World Vision Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT), Tokyo 2001
His paintings are included in the following collections (selection):
Kawaguchi Contemporary Art Museum, Saitama; The National Museum of
Modern Art, Tokyo; Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka; The Museum of
Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tochigi; The Japan Foundation, Tokyo; and
Iwaki Museum of Contemporary Art, Ibaragi.
For further information and visuals, please visit the web site
or call us at 212-645.8701.
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10 - 6
THOMAS ERBEN GALLERY
516 West 20th Street NEW YORK NY 10011
Ph: 212-645.8701 Fx: 212-645.9630