Artist Profile

Daisuke Fukunaga

Objects depicted in Daisuke Fukunaga’s painting are something too ordinary for us to pay attention everyday – places or objects we have forgotten, such as a shabby vacant lot, a dark basement of the construction building without wiring, old cleaning tools like mops, tires, and wastes. With his “representationalism” approach, these objects seem to throw off its functional meanings attached to them and wriggle like animals, as if they had emotions and personalities.
Personified objects against the dramatic backgrounds in Fukunaga’s paintings evoke strongly and theatrically, emphasized by being depicted on large canvases. The senses of endless depth and presence as materials attract viewers.

Fukunaga Daisuke was born in Tokyo, in 1981. He graduated from the oil painting course of Tama Art University in 2004, lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. He has participated in group shows such as “AFTER THE REALITY 2” curated by Hiromi Yoshii (Daichi Projects, New York, 2008), “VOCA Exhibition 2009” (The Ueno Royal Museum), and “The Way of Painting” (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, 2014). Also as a member of the artist group MIHOKANNO, he participated in group exhibitions “Hello MIHOKANNO” (Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya, Tokyo, 2009) and “GOOD NIGHT MIHOKANNO” (Akibatamabi 21, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, 2011). He won the first Kinutani Koji Award sponsored by the Mainichi Shimbun in 2009. At Tomio Koyama Gallery, Fukunaga has held solo exhibitions in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2015.