“The Rite of Spring” at Yuka Tsuruno Gallery
We visited the four-artist group exhibition currently on view at Yuka Tsuruno Gallery.
Four painters share the stage, each with distinctive works that showcase their individual sensibilities.
Akiko Ueda
Profile
Born in Kyoto in 1983; graduated from the Department of Oil Painting, Faculty of Art and Design, Musashino Art University, in 2006. Fellowship of the Pola Art Foundation, Overseas Research Program (Belgium), 2018. Selected solo exhibitions include “When Paintings See the Painter’s Sleeping Face” (Dai-ichi Life South Gallery, Tokyo, 2015), “ARKO2012 / Akiko Ueda” (Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki, 2012), and “The World Is Also a Great Bouquet” (Kiyosu City Haruhi Art Museum, Kiyosu, 2009). Group exhibitions include “Neo Vision: New Expansions” (Shinano Art Museum, Nagano, 2017) and “VOCA 2011” (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, 2011).
Tomona Matsukawa
Profile
Born in Aichi in 1987. Graduated from the Department of Painting, Oil Painting Course, Tama Art University, in 2011. Recent exhibitions include “Roppongi Crossing 2016: My Body, Your Voice” (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2016), “Shell Artist Selection” (The National Art Center, Tokyo, 2013), and “Artist Meets Kurashiki vol.12 Tomona Matsukawa” (Ohara Museum of Art, Okayama, 2016). Awards include the Asian Art Award finalist (2017), the Ichiro Fukuzawa Memorial Prize (2011), and the Holbein Scholarship (2010).
Maiko Kasai
Profile
Born in Aichi in 1983; completed her graduate studies at Kanazawa College of Art. In 2008 she was awarded the Second Grand Prize at the Shell Art Award 2008. Selected exhibitions include “VOCA 2016: The Vision of Contemporary Art — New Artists of the Two-Dimensional Plane” (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, 2016), “Shell Art Award Artist Selection” (The National Art Center, Tokyo, 2012), and “The 30th Sompo Japan Art Foundation Grant Exhibition” (Sompo Japan Togo Seiji Museum of Art, Tokyo, 2011).
Tomomi Nitta
Profile
Born in Nara in 1978; graduated from the Faculty of Law, Kyoto University, in 2001; graduated from Tama Art University in 2010. Before entering Tama Art University, she went to the United States and studied art at the Corcoran College of Art + Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She currently lives in Singapore. Recent solo exhibitions include “Hanging Garden” (Japan Creative Centre, Embassy of Japan in Singapore, 2016) and “Infinite Set 3” (Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC, 2012). Group exhibitions include “Presence: Figurative Painting” (The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, King Street Gallery, Maryland, USA, 2015) and “Likeness: Tomomi Nitta + Karen Ann Myers” (The Athenaeum Gallery, Virginia, USA, 2012).
Maiko Kasai’s free, flowing brushwork left an especially lasting impression.
