EXHIBITIONS
Hirofumi Toyama
Dates: Apr 27 – May 18, 2013 [Golden week holidays: May 3 – 6, 2013]
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery (Kiyosumi, Tokyo)
Closing reception: Saturday, May 18, 18:00 – 20:00
Taka Ishii Gallery will present a solo exhibition of works by Hirofumi Toyama from April 27 to May 18. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1967 and currently based in Nagoya, Toyama’s works have been included in the “Aichi Triennale”, Nagoya (2010) and “In the Little Playground: Hitsuda Nobuya and his Surrounding Students”, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya / Nagoya City Art Museum (2009). The current exhibition, Toyama’s first solo exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery, will feature approximately 10 new paintings.
Drawing a line
To draw a line that does not give the paint an non-paint-like quality, neither fits too comfortably within or contrasts too strongly against the existing picture, has an aggressive stance, is not as artificial as electrical lines in a landscape, and is free yet not crude, I pay attention meticulously and dynamically and forcibly draw the line slowly to make it appear as if it was drawn quickly and to make the line rhythmic, remain rough around the edges, and in a tone and color that the picture needs, which will create a cheerful mood, I paint fast without greed and without looking at the part of the line I’ve already drawn, to make it appear as if the line was completed by another artist and draw a line that I’ve never drawn before without a thought in mind.
Hirofumi Toyama, March 2013
Since graduating from Aichi University of the Arts, Toyama has consistently looked at formal elements such as line, surface, and palette for clues and guidelines for making work that addresses the very process of producing paintings. Repeatedly working through trial and error, he has drawn blindfolded, for example, to free his lines of artistic intention. His working process reflects his aim to create paintings that stand alone as paintings rather than being a tool for something else. The paintings, which appear not to have been completed by the artist, but rather to have come into being on their own, represent the very act of drawing. We hope you will take this opportunity to view Toyama’s new works, which show his expanding pursuit of the art-making process.
