Painting | Artist | Gempai-Art Village

■Affiliation: New Japan Arts Association
■Introduction: Okawa explores the true aspect of sonority within painting as an affinity relationship between objects. These affinity relationships can be said to be called love. He places an importance on the love relationships between different hues.
He continues to paint pictures that both other people and he himself will find to have an abundance of love and hold a promise of happiness.
■Examples of work: “Red Fuji”, where Every Day of Our Lives is Happiness; Summer in Takamatsu, a Song of Joy; “Start Love”, where Every Day of Our Lives is Happiness
■Achievements: 1989 Recipient of the Tokyo Governor’s Award, 13th New Japan Arts Association Exhibit; 1992 Recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award, 16th New Japan Arts Association Exhibit; 1993 Recipient of the Minister of Education’s Award, 17th New Japan Arts Association Exhibit

■Introduction: Kimura battles with progressive muscular dystrophy, a disease that slowly weakens the muscles. Since he cannot quickly move his arms, his works are truly a unique expression, as he paints with fine strokes while his right hand supports his left arm.
■Examples of work: Sanatorium Number 2, Winner of Tokushima Prefectural Assembly Speaker’s Award at the Prefectural Fine Arts Exhibit (1993)
■Achievements: 1997 Award for Merit, Kagawa Prefecture Citizen’s Cultural Festival; 1998 Runner-up, Special Selection, Tokushima Prefectural Assembly Speaker’s Award, Tokushima Prefecture Fine Arts Exhibit

■Address: Ward 8, Tokushima Hospital, National Treatment Center
1354 Shikiji, Kamojima-cho, Yoshinokawa City, Tokushima Prefecture
■Tel.: +81-883-24-2161

■Introduction: Kimura describes the process by which her works take shape as akin to creating a sketch of the projection of herself, inspired by the object’s form and color.
As the brush moves along, lines bend and colors expand. For Kimura, that is the entrance to a very comfortable space. The end result is a picture that has been painted within her world, which seems to be representative of Kimura herself in some ways.
For her, it’s not a matter of pushing her own thoughts to the fore. The pleasure she takes in painting enables her to continue to create works that communicate warmly.
■Examples of work: Won't You Dance With Me? (2008); Creative Confection (2009); Ahead, 000 Meters Light (2009)
■Achievements: 2007 Entered in the 72nd Kagawa Prefectural Fine Arts Exhibit; 2008 Entered in the 73rd Kagawa Prefectural Fine Arts Exhibit; 2009 Recipient of Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare’s Prize, Kagawa Prefectural Worker’s Fine Art Exhibition

■Introduction: Since moving her workplace to New York in 1969, Yoda stopped working with oil paints and began painting with acrylics on Japanese paper, and has continued to do so since that time. Her predominant theme is reflected in her River series, which paints depictions of the Earth’s surface as seen from miles above it. In recent years she has expanded by incorporating maps and materials from Google Maps into her work.
■Examples of work: Yoshinogawa River (2006); The Hudson River (2006); Shadows of the Clouds (2008)
■Achievements: 1980 Had her first solo exhibit at New York’s Zabriskie Gallery and was well reviewed by the New York Times.; 1989 Had her first Tokyo solo exhibit at the Muramatsu Gallery, with favorable reviews appearing in the Yomiuri Shimbun (Norio Sugawara), the Asahi Shimbun (Hiromichi Abukawa), the Sankei Shimbun (Toshio Muramatsu), the Shikoku Shimbun (Yasuaki Akashi), the Geijutsu Shincho, the Bijutsu Techo and elsewhere. Paintings of hers were added to the collections of the Takamatsu City Museum of Art and the Ohara Museum of Art.; Recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, 2005