Rising star Susumu Kamijo’s whimsically surreal portraits of poodles have earned widespread attention in the art world. Born in 1975 in Nagano, Japan, Kamijo moved to the US at the age of 16 and completed a BFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Oregon in 2000, followed by an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Washington in 2002.
Animals best known for their intelligence and loyalty - as well as their comically fluffy appearance - Kamijo’s poodles are depicted cantering majestically in open fields, lolling under the sun, their faces earnestly cocked towards the sky. Kamijo’s use of flat blocks of contrasting colours evokes the expressionistic fervour of Van Gogh and Gauguin, whilst the rough woodcut-esque lines and prismatic, almost Cubist, compositions combine with the animated, patterned surfaces to convey a vibrant dynamism.
Kamijo cites the German Expressionists as one of his key influences. Their application of vivid fields of colour draws ready parallels with Kamijo’s works, in particular those of Franz Marc, a German painter and printmaker who was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter and one of the key figures of German Expressionism. Marc’s mature works depict brightly-coloured animals in simple, natural settings, symbolic of an age of innocence before the advent of materialism and the corrupting influences of modernity.
Franz Marc, Blue Horse I ,1911
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus Collection, Munich
Kamijo’s recent solo exhibitions include Lick Me Till Dawn, Jack Hanley Gallery (New York, 2020); Fetch Your Own Bones, Kantor Gallery (Beverly Hills, 2020); I’ll Follow You To The Sunset, GNYP Gallery (Berlin, 2019); Walk With Me To The Sea, Sakurado Fine Arts (Tokyo, 2018); and I Will Walk You Tomorrow, Harper’s Books (New York, 2018). Kamijo currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Provenance
MAKI Gallery, Tokyo Acquired from the above by the present owner