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Fujio Kawagishi

The World of Fujio Kawagishi "Now"

Exhibition period: Friday, August 22, 2025 - Sunday, August 31, 2025

Venue: Ginza Ippodo

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Artist's comment

On a piece of washi paper...

When I went to a meeting to discuss this exhibition,
An unexpected piece of washi paper was spread out in front of me.
The moment you touch this washi paper with your fingertips,
The present moment coincided with the time to make the ideals I had been pursuing a reality.
Before this present moment passes,
Before this present time disappears
What is possible now?
I feel strongly about what I need to do now, as I look at the piece of Japanese paper that was given to me.

Fujio Kawagishi

Comment from Ippodo

It has been 36 years since I first came across her in the Bunka Publishing Bureau's Quarterly Ginka No. 78: A Book by Hitori Kobo Suika.
It resembles a botanical encyclopedia and depicts seasonal flowers and the Japanese atmosphere, reminiscent of miniature paintings from the Edo period.
When I saw scrolls of scriptures from the Heian and Kamakura periods at the "Super National Treasures Exhibition" in Nara this June,
I thought about him and became convinced that this was indeed what Fujio Kawagishi had always dreamed of and was striving for.
This time, we will depict Fujio Kawagishi's "now" on the very washi paper that he touched.

Keiko Aono

Artist

Artist

Fujio Kawagishi

Fujio Kawagishi

Flower paintings reminiscent of old botanical guidebooks and miniature paintings from the Edo period. Kawagishi not only creates Japanese-style bound books, hanging scrolls, and scrolls, but also beautiful and humorous works such as postage stamp paintings (3cm x 3cm) and playing card paintings. In issue 78 of the quarterly Ginka (published by Bunka Publishing Bureau), 10 Japanese bound books titled "Suika" were published, which became a hot topic, and he drew 41 camellia flowers as illustrations for "Tsubaki Shirabe" written by Toko Adachi, a master of the art of flower arrangement. The miniature paintings, which beautifully color the four seasons of Japan, give a sense of graceful strength that breathes amid the overwhelming thinness of the lines. Fujio Kawagishi's works are reminiscent of British botanical art, as if looking at an old botanical guidebook. When you open a Japanese bound book, you will see that the plants are sublimated with a unique sense of design, and his delicate style gives off an exquisite flavor.

1952 Born in Gunma Prefecture
1974 Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Graphic Design
1977 Started producing the hand-drawn book "Suika" while working at a company
1989: Ten volumes of "Suika" were introduced in the quarterly magazine "Ginka" No. 78 (Bunka Publishing Bureau), and the first solo exhibition was held.
1991: Featured in the quarterly magazine "Ginka" issue 88, "88 kinds of camellia paintings"; second solo exhibition
1992: Left the company to concentrate on art books, held solo exhibitions in various locations
2003 Exhibited at the "Tomiko Adachi World's Famous Flowers: The Story of Camellias" exhibition at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi
2015: "The World of Fujio Kawagishi" exhibition held at Sakata City Museum of Art

See about Fujio Kawagishi