Makoto Fujimura - Japanese-American Artist, the Abstract Expressionism Way
Makoto Fujimura, a contemporary artist of the 21st century, was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1960.
His father was a research scientist and mother, a creative educator.
Makoto graduated from Bucknell University in 1983.
Awarded with a Japanese Government scholarship, the artist received his Masters in Fine Arts and doctorate degrees from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music in 1989.
Fujimura's seven years at the Tokyo University involved him getting skilled at blending Fine Arts and Abstract Expressionism with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga.
Makoto founded the 'International Arts Movement' (IAM) in 1990, which hosts a conference every year in the month of February at New York, and is attended by the likes of Dana Gioia (poet, Chair of NEA), Patricia Heaton (actor), Rob Mathes Band, Miroslav Volf (theologian, Yale University), Elaine Scarry (author, Harvard University), and Daniel Libeskind (architect).
After a comprehensive edification at Japan, Fujimura relocated to the US, but kept shuttling between New York and Tokyo for his shows.
In 1992, he became the youngest artist ever to have had a piece acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
One of Fujimura's finest works is the "The Splendor of the Medium," which is a collection of paintings using stone-ground minerals, such as azurite, malachite, and cinnabar, mixed with animal hide glue applied to handmade paper.
Out of the forty eight exhibitions that the artist has to his credit, twenty three are solo expositions, such as 'Hours' (1998), 'Four Quartets' (2003), 'Golden Pines' (2003), 'The Splendor of the Medium' (2004), 'Columbines' (2002), 'The Still point' (2004), and 'The Burning Bush' (2001).
Makoto's famous paintings include "Beauty without Regret," "Columbine Flowers (June 2001)," "Images of Grace (1997)," and "Between Two Waves of the Sea.
" Makoto mentions in an interview, "Sacrificial Grace series (1998)" and his recent work "Golden Flames Painting," as two of his much loved and significant paintings.
Being the first artist ever to paint live on stage in collaboration with musicians, at the Carnegie Hall, Fujimura defines art as, "Art is not just the product of what I produce, but the process of revealing the core of my humanity.
" Makoto's work is exhibited at the Dillon Gallery, Kristen Frederickson Contemporary Art at New York, and the Sen Gallery at Tokyo.
The Saint Louis Museum in Tokyo and the CNN building in Hong Kong, house his public collections.
In March 2003, Makoto was appointed to the National Councils on the Arts, a six year Presidential Appointment.
Makoto also has a flair for writing.
He has authored several books, such as 'Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture' (2009), and 'River Grace' (2008).
More than a few of his renowned literatures works like 'That Final Dance - Essay on Form and Content' (2000), and 'Off the Walls' (2001) have been published in the Square Halo books & Worldwide Challenge magazine, respectively.
His father was a research scientist and mother, a creative educator.
Makoto graduated from Bucknell University in 1983.
Awarded with a Japanese Government scholarship, the artist received his Masters in Fine Arts and doctorate degrees from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music in 1989.
Fujimura's seven years at the Tokyo University involved him getting skilled at blending Fine Arts and Abstract Expressionism with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga.
Makoto founded the 'International Arts Movement' (IAM) in 1990, which hosts a conference every year in the month of February at New York, and is attended by the likes of Dana Gioia (poet, Chair of NEA), Patricia Heaton (actor), Rob Mathes Band, Miroslav Volf (theologian, Yale University), Elaine Scarry (author, Harvard University), and Daniel Libeskind (architect).
After a comprehensive edification at Japan, Fujimura relocated to the US, but kept shuttling between New York and Tokyo for his shows.
In 1992, he became the youngest artist ever to have had a piece acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
One of Fujimura's finest works is the "The Splendor of the Medium," which is a collection of paintings using stone-ground minerals, such as azurite, malachite, and cinnabar, mixed with animal hide glue applied to handmade paper.
Out of the forty eight exhibitions that the artist has to his credit, twenty three are solo expositions, such as 'Hours' (1998), 'Four Quartets' (2003), 'Golden Pines' (2003), 'The Splendor of the Medium' (2004), 'Columbines' (2002), 'The Still point' (2004), and 'The Burning Bush' (2001).
Makoto's famous paintings include "Beauty without Regret," "Columbine Flowers (June 2001)," "Images of Grace (1997)," and "Between Two Waves of the Sea.
" Makoto mentions in an interview, "Sacrificial Grace series (1998)" and his recent work "Golden Flames Painting," as two of his much loved and significant paintings.
Being the first artist ever to paint live on stage in collaboration with musicians, at the Carnegie Hall, Fujimura defines art as, "Art is not just the product of what I produce, but the process of revealing the core of my humanity.
" Makoto's work is exhibited at the Dillon Gallery, Kristen Frederickson Contemporary Art at New York, and the Sen Gallery at Tokyo.
The Saint Louis Museum in Tokyo and the CNN building in Hong Kong, house his public collections.
In March 2003, Makoto was appointed to the National Councils on the Arts, a six year Presidential Appointment.
Makoto also has a flair for writing.
He has authored several books, such as 'Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture' (2009), and 'River Grace' (2008).
More than a few of his renowned literatures works like 'That Final Dance - Essay on Form and Content' (2000), and 'Off the Walls' (2001) have been published in the Square Halo books & Worldwide Challenge magazine, respectively.
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