Fujio Kawagishi
The World of Fujio Kawagishi Like an old botanical illustrated book...
August 3rd - August 20th, 2023
Exhibition
Exhibition view
For me, drawing is based on facts, and the memory of those facts is repeated over and over again, until this mundane repetition becomes part of everyday life and transforms into an important lesson.
I will continue to pick up my brush and draw lines in the hope that an extremely ordinary scene from everyday life that everyone passes by without noticing can be connected to the beauty of simplicity.
This is my joy and the origin of my drawing.
Fujio Kawagishi
I first came to know of Kawagishi Fujio's paintings in 1989, when they were featured in the 78th issue of Bunka Publishing Bureau's quarterly magazine, Ginka.
His plants were vibrant and beautiful with their fine lines.
It also felt like I was looking at an old botanical encyclopedia...yes, it felt like Makino Tomitaro's encyclopedia.
Although he himself was not aware of it, Kawagishi Fujio possessed a mysterious ability, and the essence of whatever he saw was transformed into lines by his paintbrush, and beauty resided around the lines.
After quitting his job as a businessman, he has been working as a painter for 31 years, living a quiet, steady life day by day.
It's different from my roller coaster lifestyle, but for some reason it intrigues me.
Keiko Aono
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