Makiko Kudo

Makiko Kudo

うみのもの 2011 oil on canvas 130.0 × 162.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo

Makiko Kudo says that she depicts landscapes “that I have passed everyday but suddenly begin to shine.” Scenes that are perceived separately in reality are linked dynamically in dreams. When we wake up, the emotions we felt during a dream retain their intensity even if we cannot remember the details. This sensation is similar to what we experience when looking at Kudo’s paintings. The calculated and precise composition contrasts with the primitive brushwork, creating a chaotic sense of vibrant energy mixed up with vivid color. Girls and small animals are incorporated in the landscape. Luxuriant vegetation is unified with buildings that appear miniaturized and the scene is connected to fragmentary emotions.

Curator and critic David Pagel, in a review of a Makiko Kudo show, noted the similarities between her work and Monet’s water lilies, Rousseau’s dreamy realism, and Matisse’s Fauvism. Pagel concluded, “Her poignant works bring intimacy and introspection to the whiplash graphics of the anime generation. The paradox of being unable to escape a place that never really felt like home is Kudo’s great subject.”

  • Installation view at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2011 ©Makiko Kudo
  • Installation view at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2011 ©Makiko Kudo
  • Installation view at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2011 ©Makiko Kudo
  • 灰色のまち Gray town 2011 oil on canvas 227.5 × 365.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • Installation view at Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2011 ©Makiko Kudo
  • 見えないもの invisible 2011 oil on canvas 182.0 × 227.5 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • じゅうたん Carpet 2011 oil on canvas 65.5 × 80.5 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • いるか Dolphin 2011 oil on canvas 91.0 × 91.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • 夕飯のおかず Dish for dinner 2011 oil on canvas 65.5 × 80.5 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • めぶく Bud 2011 oil on canvas 32.0 × 41.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • さんびき Three 2011 oil on canvas 33.5 × 24.5 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • 夕方がいちばんすき I like the evening most 2011 oil on canvas 53.0 × 65.5 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • いろめきたつ Waking Up 2012 oil on canvas 130.5 × 162.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • あきち 2011 oil on canvas 91.0 × 116.5 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • いぬとねこ 2011 oil on canvas 130.0 × 162.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • うみのもの 2011 oil on canvas 130.0 × 162.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • 春がくるのは止められない 2011 oil on canvas 194.0 × 259.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo
  • さんかく Triangle 2011 oil on canvas 33.5 × 24.0 cm ©Makiko Kudo