Tomio Koyama Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of Hiro Kunikawa’s works.
Born in Saitama in 1992, Kunikawa went on to study oil painting at Musashino Art University, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in 2015 and master’s degree in 2017. In that same year, he received the Tomio Koyama Prize at Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2017. The following year saw his first solo exhibition “Reports on the Undefined” at 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, which earned him a reputation. Sadly, Kunikawa passed away only a few years later, in 2021; his youthful talent and sensibilities are deeply missed.
This exhibition showcases a selection of his paintings and drawings, including some never-before-seen works.
Kunikawa’s works depict nude figures in various poses and settings.
These are not portraits of specific people but figures reduced to a vague human “presence” or “aura,” largely devoid of discernible gender or ethnicity.
“My focus on nudes stems from an interest in people—though less in the actual person standing in front of me than in the terrifying and puzzling nature of human beings in general.
Putting on clothing introduces a cultural element, giving rise to words and genres. I want to go beyond all that and capture those hard-to-grasp things that exist in between the clear-cut things. That was what led me to nudes.”
(From Kunikawa’s 2018 interview on “Shibuya Radio”)
Kunikawa would first paint the human figure, then add the background. As the figure took shape, so too would the space around it, albeit indistinctly; he would then draw lines, guided by intuition, and the image would gradually form.
He stated that he did not begin with an idea of how the work should look, that the final image was a product of his instincts.
Another key concern for Kunikawa was the sense of distance between himself and reality, or between himself and his subjects.
He painted while trying to gauge that distance, and to find where that ever-shifting distance felt comfortable.
As he painted and went about his daily life, sometimes he would sense another flow of time slipping into his own, as though there existed an overlap of images from different places—vague, distant images that would insinuate themselves like a human presence. According to Kunikawa, he was exploring such “nameless states” that he experienced when his mind was wandering, or when he was in that state outside of rational thought.
Upon awarding Kunikawa at Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2017, Koyama commented on the artist’s works as follows:
“While they might appear at first glance to be portraits with traditional motifs, they demonstrate a continual quest to experiment with, and to confirm, how to depict the spaces we humans inhabit. The focus is on neither the figures nor the scenes behind them. Confronted with such mystifying works, I am reminded a little of Morandi. I was fascinated by these thrilling compositions with their liminal goings-on.”
We hope you will take this rare opportunity to appreciate the many remarkable works that Hiro Kunikawa produced during his lifetime.
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For press inquiries, please contact: press@tomiokoyamagallery.com (Makiko Okado)
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