Makoto Fujimura
Encyclopedia
Makoto Fujimura is a 21st Century Contemporary Artist. He graduated with a B.A. from Bucknell University, then studied in a traditional Japan
ese painting doctorate program for several years at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with several notable artists such as Takashi Murakami
and Hiroshi Senju
. He was the first non-native to participate in the Japanese Painting Doctorate Program, which dates back to 15th century. His bicultural arts education led his style towards a fusion between fine art and abstract expressionism
, together with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga
.
Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1991 and currently acts as Creative Director. He has co-hosted several major conferences for the International Arts Movement, most recently "Encounter 11."
He is represented by Dillon Gallery in New York City and Tokyo; as well as by White Stone Gallery in Philadelphia. His work can be seen at the National Modern Museum of Art in Tokyo, the Saint Louis Museum, the Cincinnati Museum, and the CNN building in Hong Kong. He was appointed by President Bush to the National Council on the Arts in 2003. At the completion of his term in 2009, then Chair Dana Gioia awarded him the Chairman's Medal for his service and contribution to arts advocacy in the United States.
His work includes “The Splendor of the Medium”, "Water Flames," and "Charis," a collection of paintings using stone-ground minerals including gold, platinum, azurite
, malachite
and cinnabar
. He has collaborated with percussionist/composer Susie Ibarra on multiple occasions, and his live painting was recorded by Plywood Pictures in "Live in New York: Susie Ibarra + Makoto Fujimura." (2009)
In November 2009, Fujimura's works were coupled with works of Georges Rouault
at Dillon Gallery. Fujimura created several new works in homage to the 20th century master, the catalyst of the "Sacred Arts Movement" in Paris that influenced Picasso, Matisse and other modernist artists.
Crossway Publishing commissioned Fujimura in 2009 for The Four Holy Gospels project to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the publishing of the King James Bible. It was the first time that a single artist has been commissioned to illuminate the four Gospels in nearly five hundred years. The Gospels will be on exhibition at the Museum Of Biblical Art. in Manhattan until October of 2011. The Four Holy Gospels comprise of five major frontispieces, 89 chapter heading letters and over 140 pages of hand illumined pages, all done with traditional Nihonga method.
A popular speaker, he has lectured at Bucknell University
, Philadelphia Biblical University
, Gordon College
, Grove City College
, The King's College (New York), Princeton University
, Yale University
, Baylor University
, Belmont University
, Duke University
and various arts conferences. He is also an author of several books including "River Grace" (Poiema Press, 2008), and "Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture" (NavPress, 2009). His essays have appeared in IMAGE Journal, American Arts Quarterly, and World magazine. His essay "The Fallen Towers and the Art of Tea" was selected for IMAGE Journal's "Bearing the Image: Twenty Years of IMAGE" anthology. He is featured twice in the book "Objects of Grace: Conversations on Creativity and Faith" (Square Halo Books, 2004) ISBN 978-0965879835 and contributed an essay and artwork to "It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God" (Square Halo Books, 2007) ISBN 978-0978509712. In 2010 Fujimura made his on-screen debut with commentary in the award winning documentary, The Human Experience
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese painting doctorate program for several years at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with several notable artists such as Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami
is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low art...
and Hiroshi Senju
Hiroshi Senju
Hiroshi Senju is a Japanese painter known for his large scale waterfall paintings. These waterfall paintings often focus at the base of the waterfall where the falls crash into the pool below, usually cropping out the top of the falls...
. He was the first non-native to participate in the Japanese Painting Doctorate Program, which dates back to 15th century. His bicultural arts education led his style towards a fusion between fine art and abstract expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, together with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga
Nihonga
or literally "Japanese-style paintings" is a term used to describe paintings that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials...
.
Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1991 and currently acts as Creative Director. He has co-hosted several major conferences for the International Arts Movement, most recently "Encounter 11."
He is represented by Dillon Gallery in New York City and Tokyo; as well as by White Stone Gallery in Philadelphia. His work can be seen at the National Modern Museum of Art in Tokyo, the Saint Louis Museum, the Cincinnati Museum, and the CNN building in Hong Kong. He was appointed by President Bush to the National Council on the Arts in 2003. At the completion of his term in 2009, then Chair Dana Gioia awarded him the Chairman's Medal for his service and contribution to arts advocacy in the United States.
His work includes “The Splendor of the Medium”, "Water Flames," and "Charis," a collection of paintings using stone-ground minerals including gold, platinum, azurite
Azurite
Azurite is a soft, deep blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is also known as Chessylite after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France...
, malachite
Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms...
and cinnabar
Cinnabar
Cinnabar or cinnabarite , is the common ore of mercury.-Word origin:The name comes from κινναβαρι , a Greek word most likely applied by Theophrastus to several distinct substances...
. He has collaborated with percussionist/composer Susie Ibarra on multiple occasions, and his live painting was recorded by Plywood Pictures in "Live in New York: Susie Ibarra + Makoto Fujimura." (2009)
In November 2009, Fujimura's works were coupled with works of Georges Rouault
Georges Rouault
Georges Henri Rouault[p] was a French Fauvist and Expressionist painter, and printmaker in lithography and etching.-Childhood and education:Rouault was born in Paris into a poor family...
at Dillon Gallery. Fujimura created several new works in homage to the 20th century master, the catalyst of the "Sacred Arts Movement" in Paris that influenced Picasso, Matisse and other modernist artists.
Crossway Publishing commissioned Fujimura in 2009 for The Four Holy Gospels project to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the publishing of the King James Bible. It was the first time that a single artist has been commissioned to illuminate the four Gospels in nearly five hundred years. The Gospels will be on exhibition at the Museum Of Biblical Art. in Manhattan until October of 2011. The Four Holy Gospels comprise of five major frontispieces, 89 chapter heading letters and over 140 pages of hand illumined pages, all done with traditional Nihonga method.
A popular speaker, he has lectured at Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
, Philadelphia Biblical University
Philadelphia Biblical University
Philadelphia Biblical University, formerly called Philadelphia College of Bible, is a school located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania founded in 1913. Every undergraduate student graduates with a Bachelor's degree in Bible. In addition, students may work towards a dual degree, such as Business,...
, Gordon College
Gordon College
Gordon College may refer to:* Gordon College , a public college in Barnesville, Georgia* Gordon College , a Christian college in Wenham, Massachusetts* Gordon College , a Christian college in Rawalpindi, Pakistan...
, Grove City College
Grove City College
Grove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...
, The King's College (New York), Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
, Belmont University
Belmont University
Belmont University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is the largest Christian university in Tennessee and the second largest private university in the state, behind nearby Vanderbilt University.-Belmont Mansion:Belmont Mansion...
, Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
and various arts conferences. He is also an author of several books including "River Grace" (Poiema Press, 2008), and "Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture" (NavPress, 2009). His essays have appeared in IMAGE Journal, American Arts Quarterly, and World magazine. His essay "The Fallen Towers and the Art of Tea" was selected for IMAGE Journal's "Bearing the Image: Twenty Years of IMAGE" anthology. He is featured twice in the book "Objects of Grace: Conversations on Creativity and Faith" (Square Halo Books, 2004) ISBN 978-0965879835 and contributed an essay and artwork to "It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God" (Square Halo Books, 2007) ISBN 978-0978509712. In 2010 Fujimura made his on-screen debut with commentary in the award winning documentary, The Human Experience
The Human Experience
The Human Experience is a documentary film, produced by Grassroots Films, which tells the story of and his travels, as he searches for answers to the question: what does it mean to be human? The film is divided into the three experiences, which take Jeffrey and his friends to New York, to Peru,...
.
External links
- http://makotofujimura.com
- http://dillongallery.com
- http://internationalartsmovement.org