Akira Kugimachi1968-

After spending his childhood in Belgium, MFA at Tama Art University and studying media art and philosophy, which forms the basis of his work, at the University of Paris VIII, he has concentrated on his creative activities. Using Japanese paper and natural mineral pigments, Kugimachi depicts landscapes based on the concept of "light, time and distance". For Kugimachi, landscapes are a 'place' for reaffirming the position of human beings and a 'device for questioning the relationship between the world and human beings'. His paintings are made with what he calls 'earth materials': natural, unrefined, brute mineral pigments and sumi ink from shells and pine trees, as well as deliberately adulterated glue and washi paper. He uses a conceptual painting technique in which he becomes the medium, and means, process, and materials are one and the same. He began to think of the paint as a silhouette and wanted to create paintings of absense in which there is no object. Then, he realised this emptiness has affinity with video. For this reason, in recent years, he has also been developing installation works that combine videos with paintings made with mineral pigments, which are the so-called "aesthetics of withdrawal."

Biography

1968 Born in Yokohama, Japan
1993 BFA in Fine Arts, Japanese Painting Departement, Tama Art University / Tokyo, Japan
1995 MFA in Fine Arts, Japanese Painting Departement, Tama ArtUniversity / Tokyo, Japan
1995-96 Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Marseille / France
1999 MFA in Media Art and Technology, University of Paris VIII, Saint-Denis / France
2000-2002 Stayed in Paris under a grant from Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese Government
2006 Lecturer at the French National School of Fine Arts in Marseille

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Solo Exhibitions

2024 "From the land of Men" (Yebisu Film Festival 2024 cooperation program) ART FRONT GALLERY / Tokyo
2020 "Elpis" Gallery Pierre-Yves Caër / Paris
2018 "Erewhon" Gallery Art Composition / Tokyo
2017 "Re-generation" Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi / Tokyo

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Group Exhibitions

2024 "Things to come" Minami Hida Art Discovery / Gifu, Japan
2023 "Dystopia Transition from Memory" (Yebisu Film Festival 2023 cooperation program) ART FRONT GALLERY / Tokyo
2023 "Dialogue of Paintings and Ceramics" / Cernuschi Museum / Paris
2022 Matsumoto Architecture + Art Festival / Nagano, Japan
2022 "The Brilliance of Contemporary Japanese Paintings" Niimi Art Museum / Okayama, Japan
2019 Art Paris19, Grand Palais (Stand Gallery Pierre-Yves Caër) / Paris
2018 "Renaissance Contemporaine" Pierre-Yves Caër Gallery / Paris
2017 "Collect" Saatchi Gallery / London
2017 "L'Aurore de Paysage" Villa88 / Bordeaux, France
2016 "Paysages Subjectifs" Musee Iancelevici / La Louviere, Belgium
2016 "Encounters" Gallery Dutko London / London
2015 "Ombre et Lumière" (Shadow and light ) Galerie Dutko Quai Voltaire / Paris
2015 "Regards croisé sur le Polochon" Institut National des Métiers d’Art / Paris
2015 "Mode Nippon V & Créateur 80" Artcurial / Paris
2013 "Contemporary Sumi-ink Artist Exhibition" The National Art Center / Tokyo
2012 "A Force de regarder au lieu de voir" Galerie des Grands Bains Douches de la Plaine / Marseille, France
2011 "Tragique du Paysage" Galerie Eric Mircher / Paris

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Collection / Public Art

Azabudai Hills AMAN Residence / Tokyo
Cernuschi Museum / Paris
Niimi Art Museum / Okayama, Japan
The Peninsula Tokyo / Tokyo
Rigenji Temple / Tokyo
Mitsubishi Corporation / Paris
Former Residence of Kenzo Takada / Paris
Nishi Sake Brewery / Kagoshima, Japan　and many others

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