Yutaka Yoshinaga

Born: 1948, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan

Education

1966-67 Suidobata Institute of Art

1967-68 Funabashi Institute of Fine Art

His works

When you look at his works, you can see his pure material texture and colors, and you can find folding marks.  They are like unfolded Origami or Furoshiki.

His pure material texture and colors

Yutaka Yoshinaga’s works almost always use Pigment and Pastel.  The color variations they make possible are, of course, attractive.  More important, however, is the achievement of layers of coloring that suggest resistance to their penetration, in contrast to the welcome permeation by ink or watercolors.

Folding marks

Yutaka Yoshinaga’s works are almost entirely drawn on Washi (Japanese handmade paper).  He uses his whole body to fold and unfold the paper.  The method is simple, yet it offers a way to make the differentiation of colors and gradations and the space they form stands out in contrast to line surfaces.

Artist’s Statement

“These works are handmade.  They are about my relationship to material and to time.”  Yoshinaga makes his paintings on paper, usually with dry pigments rather than paint, working one square at a time with the paper folded.  There is, he says, an “accumulation of touch.”  There are repairs, handling marks, like the Japanese fusuma, or sliding doors, built of light wood grids covered with paper and repaired as needed one square at a time.  Although most people who see Yoshinaga’s work describe it as beautiful, the artist is not thinking about beauty.  What concerns him is “the life of the materials.”  Yutaka Yoshinaga

Collections

Düsseldorf Municipal Art Museum, Germany

Riodejaneiro Museum of Modern Art, Brazil

Poliforum Cultural Siqueiros, Mexico City

Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery(Prefectural Collections)Japan

Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba pref. Japan

Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (Terada Collections), Tokyo

National Gallery of Art, of Washington D.C USA

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Legion Honor Achen Bach Foundation) San Francisco, CA USA

Kakitagawa Museum, Shizuoka pref. Japan

Loft Museum of Contemporary Art,TEN, Niigata pref. Japan

Imadate City Fukui pref.(City Collections) Japan

One Man Shows

1972 Gallery Ginsaido, Tokyo

1973 Gallery Surugadai, Tokyo

1975 Gallery Kunugi, Tokyo

1976 Gallery Kunugi, Tokyo

1976 Gallery Art Salon, Tokyo

1977 Studio Kohoku, Tokyo

1978 Gallery Kunugi, Tokyo

1980 Gallery Ginza kaigakan, Tokyo

1980 Bistro Sebastian, Tokyo

1981 Gallery Ginza Kaigakan, Tokyo

1983 Gallery Ginza Kaigakan, Tokyo

1983 Gallery Tamura, Tokyo

1984 Gallery Lumiere, Yamagata

1985 Gallery Ginza Kaigakan, Tokyo

1985 Gallery Soo, Korea

1985 Gallery Kobayashi, Tokyo

1986 Gallery Maki, Tokyo

1986 Gallery Vivan, Tokyo

1986 Gallery M, Fukui

1987 Gallery Maki, Tokyo

1987 We Gallery, Saitama

1987 Museum of Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros, Mexico City

1987 Gallery Manin, Tokyo

1987 Gallery Hibell Aoyama, Tokyo

1987 Gallery Japan Print, Tokyo

1988 Ginza Matsuya, Tokyo

1988 Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

1988 Gallery Manin, Tokyo

1988 Gallery F, Gifu

1988 Art Forum Yanaka, Tokyo

1988 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

1988 Tokyu-Plaza, Kanagawa

1988 Funabashi Sogo Raraport, Chiba

1989 Rafael Matos Galeia de Arte, Mexico

1989 Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

1989 O-Land Art Square, Saitama

1989 Gallery 88, Sendai

1989 Soko Museum, Niigata

1989 Gallery ?m, Tokyo

1989Gallery Manin, Tokyo

1990 Rafael Matos Galeia de Art, Mexico city

1990 We Gallery, Saitama

1990 Gallery F, Gifu

1990 Art Forum Yanaka, Tokyo

1990 Gallery Selam, Chiba

1990 Gallery Manin, Tokyo

1991 Ginza Matsuya, Tokyo

1991 Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

1991 Espece Takarashi, Tokyo

1991 Fine Art Kunoki, Kagoshima

1991 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

1991 Gallery Manin, Tokyo

1992 “Contemporary Artist Series 92″ Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama

1992 Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

1992 Gallery Ueda, Tokyo

1993 Gallery F, Gifu

1993 Enrico Gariboldi Arte Contemporanea, Milano

1993 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

1993 Gallery Mutsu, Chiba

1994 Art Forum Yanaka , Tokyo

1994 Gallery San Art, Aichi

1994 Gallery Ueda, Tokyo

1994 Tanishima Gallery, Tokyo

1994 Soko Museum, Niigata

1994 Westbeth Gallery Kozuka, Aichi

1994 Bunpodo Gallery, Tokyo

1995 Tokyu Bunkamura Gallery, Tokyo

1995 Gallery Mutu, Chiba

1995 Genkyosya, Tokyo

1995 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

1996 Galerie Takarashi, Tokyo

1996 Life Gallery Ten, Fukuoka

1996 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

1996 Judith Dowling-Asian Art, Boston

1997 Tokyu Bunkamura Gallery, Tokyo

1997 Gallery Ueda Warehouse-Yugawara, Kanagawa

1997 Life Gallery Ten, Fukuoka

1997 Shoto Gallery, Tokyo

1997 Westbeth Gallery Kozuka, Aichi

1998 Umi Gallery, Tokyo

1998 Perimeter Gallery, Chicago

1998 Gallery Shirakawa, Kyoto

1998 Gallery Maki & Tamura, Tokyo

1998 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

1998 Gallery Ueda, Tokyo

1999 Hiromi Paper Show Room Gallery, Los Angers

2000 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

2000 Gallery Hirawata, Kanagawa

2000 Gallery Ueda,Tokyo

2001 Gallery F, Gifu

2001 Life Gallery Ten, Fukuoka

2001 Hiro Chikashige Gallery, Okayama

2002 Gallery Gan.f, Tokyo

2002 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

2002 Galerie Takarashi, Tokyo

2002 Gallery Inoue, Osaka

2002 Hiro Chikashige GalleryOkayama

2002 Gallery Accostage, Kagawa

2003 Orie Co., Ltd, Tokyo

2003 Gallery Hirawata, Kanagawa

2003 Gallery Gan.f, Tokyo

2003 Life Gallery Ten, Fukuoka

2004 The Nishimoto Billding Project Part2,Wakayama

2004 Gallery Inoue, Osaka

2004 Buffet Five Art Gallery, Wakayama

2004 Gallery Sou, Tokyo

2004 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

2005 Darumaya Seibu, Fukui

2005 Sogo, Chiba

2005 Iwataya, Fukuoka

2006 Asahikawa Seibu, Hokkaido

2006 Shizuoka Seibu, Shizuoka

2006 Mistukoshi Takamastu, Kagawa

2006 Sapporo Marui Imai, Hokkaido

2006 Sogo Kawaguchi, Saitama

2006 Mistukoshi Kagoshima, Kagoshima

2006 Yokohama Port Side Gallery, Yokohama

2006 Hiroshima Sogo, Hiroshina

2006 Sogo Yokohama, Yokohama

2006 Tokorozawa Seibu, Saitama

2006 Funabashi Seibu, Chiba

2006 Fukui Seibu, Fukui

2006 Fukuoka Iwataya, Fukuoka

2006 Numazu Seibu, Shizuoka

2006 Arika Art Site, Tokyo

2006 Nagoya Mistukoshi. Aich

2006 Takastuki Seibu, Osaka

2007 Asahikawa Seibu, Hokkaido

2007 Kobe Sogou. Hyogo

2007 Galerie Takarashi. Tokyo

2007 Sappro Marui Imai, Hokkaido

2007 Ikebukuro Seibu, Tokyo

2007 Sogo Yokohama. Yokohama

2007 Fukuoka Iwataya. Fukuoka

2008 Sappro Marui Imai, Hokkaido

2009 Perimeter Gallery, Chicago

Group Exhibitions

1976 “The 1st Exhibition of Fine Art in Tokyo” Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of art

1977 “Chiba77″ Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art

1978 “Chiba78″ Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art

1979 “Chiba 79″ Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art

“Modern Age – Either water or fish – of Art ” Chiba Prefectual Museum of Art

1981 “Contemporary Art of Chiba” Funabashi Seibu Museum, Chiba

“Three-persons Show” Gallery Maki, Tokyo

Gallery Taisei , Tokyo

1982 “Print Works of five-mans” Gallery San, Kagawa

1983 Gallery Ginza Kaigakan, Tokyo

“Zero-gravity ’83″Miyagi Prefectural Museum of Art

Gallery Iteza, Kyoto

“3rd Contemporary Art Exhibition of Imadate Paper Works” Fukui

“International Impact Art Festival ’83″ Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto

“International Impact Art Festival ’83″ Seoul National Museum, Korea

“GURU Exhibition” Gallery Mitsukoshi Sunshine, Tokyo

“Contemporary Art Exhibitions” KANAGAWA PREFECTURAL GALLERY, Yokohama

“Freeport Message ’83″Civic Gallery Yokohama

1984 “Live in Zao” Yamagata

“Art Festival in Sendai ’84″Miyagi Prefectual Museum of Art

Gallery Hinoki, Tokyo

Gallery Lumiere , Yamagata

“Aesthetics of Korean Paper” Gallery Komai, Tokyo

“Maiden Voyage ’84″Bell Air, Tokyo

“Freeport Message ’84″Civic Gallery Yokohama

1985 Gallery K, Tokyo

“The 5th Hara Annual” Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo

Yea-Meak Gallery, Korea

“Contemporary Art of Paper Works” Imadate City Fukui

“Wa Exhibition” Civic Museum Fukuoka

“Art Festival”(Recommendation section) The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama

1986 Gallery Jun, Chiba

“Yokohama , Soul Contemporary Art ’86″KANAGAWA PREFECTURAL GALLERY, Yokohama

Gallery Ishii , Tokyo

“Unconfirmed Art ’86″Miyagi Prefectual Museum of Art

“Yoyogi Art Gallery Three-man Show”, Tokyo

“The Spot ’86″Fukushima Culture Center

1987 “Soul?Yokohama Contemporary Art ’87″Artcosmos Seoul, Korea

Gallery Ai, Tokyo

Westbeth Gallery , Aichi

“TOURUBION-Reality by the idea and a sense “Setagaya Museum of Art, Tokyo

“International Art Festival” Shinsyu Shinmachi Museum, Aichi

“Museo Chiquito Group Show”, Saitama

“Art Space Five-man Show”, Tokyo

“The Spot ’87″Fukushima Culture Center

1988  “Don Soker Contemporary Art Group Show”, San Francisco

“In the Room Part.2″ Bevercy, Tokyo

“Gallery?1Group Show”, Tokyo

“Carta e Arte Contemporanea”Galleria d’Art Niccoli, Parma Italy

“’88 Contemporary Artists of Hokkaido” Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art

1989 “Don Soker Contemporary Art Group Show”, San Francisco

“Japanese Artist Contemporary Prints and Paper works”, Fukui

“Art Exciting ’89″The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama

“Japanese Ways Western Means” Queens land Art Gallery, Australia

Gallery Tubaki , Tokyo

“The Nine Artists Center” Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo

1990 “Modern Art Market ’90″Ginza Matsuya, Tokyo

Gallery Tubaki , Tokyo

“The third Ino Paper Exhibition” Museum of Ino-cho’s Paper, Kochi

“Gallery Shimon Group Show”, Tokyo

1991 “Japan?China Fine Arts Interchange Exhibition” Ichikawa Cultural Hall, Chiba

“Japan, Korea Fine Arts Interchange Exhibition” Funabashi Art Forum, Chiba

“Japanese Artist Contemporary Prints and Paperwork’s” The Art Association of Ronnery, Sweden

“Paper Works of Contemporary Art IMADATE-ECHIZEN 1979-1990″, Fukui

“Artists Contemporary Arte “Galleria d’04,Milano

1992 “Nagoya Art Fair ’92″ Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

“Cheongjoo, Chiba Modern Age of Arts Exhibition”, Korea

“Korea, Japan 1992″Song san Gallery, Korea

Westbeth Gallery , Aichi

Gallery Tubaki , Tokyo

1993 “NICAF ’93″ Gallery Ueda,Yokohama

“Discovery New Asia 1993 Cheongjoo Exhibition”, Korea

“Do-Won Soong National Arts Festival”, Korea

“Selection from the Wize Collection” Somerstown Studio, New York

1994 “Nagoya Art Fair ’94″ Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

“Inner Communication” Funabashi Citizen Gallery, Chiba

“Natural History of a Color “Red” – Mystery Guess A Riddle “Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo

“Chiba Art Now ’94-Paper’s splendor” Sakura City Museum of Art, Chiba

Gallery Plaza , Tokyo

1996 Karl Drerup Fine Arts Gallery (Plymouth State College), New Hampshire

1997 Life Gallery Ten , Fukuoka

“NICAF ’97″Gallery Ueda, Tokyo

“A Sense of Color” Crown Point Gallery, San Francisco

“Thirty-five Years at Crown Point Press” National Gallery, Washington D.C

“Thirty-five Years at Crown Point Press” The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

“Thirty-five Years at Crown Point Press” The University of California Press, San Francisco

1998 Life Gallery Ten , Fukuoka

“Inaugural Exhibition” Don Soker Contemporary Art , San Francisco

“Art Fair in Chicago” Perimeter Gallery, Chicago

“Big ceramic art” Gallery Ueda Warehouse-Yugawara , Kanagawa

“Corridor of blue” Tokyu Bunkamura Gallery, Tokyo

Perimeter Gallery, Chicago

1999 “Contemporary Japanese Abstraction” Perimeter Gallery, Chicago

“Two Exhibition” Shoto Gallery, Tokyo

“The technique of the fine arts vol.4″Nerima museum of art, Tokyo

“Opening Exhibition” Terada Collection,Art Gallery Tokyo Opera City, Tokyo

“99-00″ Gallery Hirawata, Kanagawa

2000 “Year 2000 Jan.” Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

“Visual Haiku” Perimeter Gallery, Chicago

“Grand prix-Artists of Paper Works” Imadate Fukui

Gallery Orie, Tokyo

“Black& White” Terada Collection, Art Gallery Tokyo Opera City, Tokyo

“Possibility of paper” Shinjuku Park Tower Building, Tokyo

“ART BOX IN JAPAN vol.1-A book of paintings commemoration exhibition” Art Box, Tokyo

“Paper of today” Fuji cultural hall, Shizuoka

2000-01 “Metamorphosis-Analyzing the paper” Pusan metropolitan art museum, Korea

2001 “00-01″ Gallery Hirawata , Kanagawa

“Year 2001 Jan.” Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

“Visual Haiku” Primeter Gallery NYC, NY

“Made in Japan” Bristol City Museum, England

“Light and the expression?The technique of the fine arts vol.6″ Nerima museum of art, Tokyo

Gallery Orie, Tokyo

“009″ Terada Collection, Art Gallery Tokyo Opera City, Tokyo

2002 “02″ Gallery Hirawata , Kanagawa
“Year 2002 Jan.” Westbeth Gallery, Aichi
“Made in Japan(Turning)”Bankside Gallery, London
“Arts of paper “Nakatomi Museum of contemporary Fine Craft, Shizuoka
“The Wonderland of paper” Guma Museum Art, Tatebayashi, Gunma
“Made in Japan(Final showing)”Usher Gallery, Lincoln
2003 “03″ Gallery Hirawata , Kanagawa
“Year 2003 Jan.” Westbeth Gallery, Aichi

Atelier Suzuki, Tokyo
Shinjuku Park Tower Building, Tokyo

2004 Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

Gallery Orie, Tokyo

Life Gallery Ten , Fukuoka

“Why not live for art?”<Terada Collection> Art Gallery Tokyo Opera City, Tokyo

2005 “04-05″ Gallery Hirawata , Kanagawa

“GAW Part V” Golden-Gai Shinjyuku, Tokyo

2007   Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco

“OPEN show” Gallery FURUYA Ginza, Tokyo

2008 “Wood Paper” Stewart Gallery, Boise