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Touching Stone Gallery  Santa Fe,  USA

www.touchingstone.com    director@touchingstone.com

 

Fumiko Kurokawa
Moments of Grace
June 3 - 29, 2011

 

Fumiko Kurokawa sumi-e exhibition 

 

Sumi-e by Fumiko Kurokawa

Sumi-e (literally water-ink painting), a Chinese and Japanese art form, is an extraordinarily expressive medium ideal for capturing subtle moods of quiet subjects. Unlike realistic Western painting which uses light and shadows to create an illusion of perspective, sumi-e emphasizes beauty of forms created by brush movement and ink flow on paper. In this regard, sumi-e and Oriental calligraphy share common aesthetic qualities that have no parallel in Western art.

In his classic book Composition, Georgia O’Keeffe’s teacher Arthur Wesley Dow wrote on sumi-e: "The painter ...put upon the paper the fewest possible lines and tones; just enough to cause form, texture and effect to be felt. Every brush-touch must be full-charged with meaning, and useless detail eliminated. Put together all the good points in such a method, and you have the qualities of the highest art".1  This happens to be a fitting description of Fumiko Kurokawa's paintings.

Fumiko Kurokawa is an accomplished sumi-e artist who paints with a pure traditional style called mottkotsu ho (without outline). Kurokawa’s brushwork is lively, delicate and graceful like a dance. Her sumi-e captures the quintessential of tranquil country life in rural Japan. Her favorite subjects are simple quiet landscapes and still life, reminders of the innocent beauty in things ordinary. But it's her exquisite composition with impeccable use of negative space that distinguishes her works.   

Born in the Wakayama Prefecture in Japan, Kurokawa spent her childhood surrounded by mountains and towering Japanese cedars. She had always wanted to be an artist, but raising a family kept her from her dream until she was in her late 30’s. After her youngest son entered school, she began to study sumi-e and watercolor. She was especially inspired by her sumi-e teacher Yasuo Shimizu, and her talent was recognized quickly. Since 1984, Kurokawa has been exhibiting her works in major art shows, including the Japan-France Modern Art Exhibition. Her works have brought her many awards, including Work of Excellence and Best of Show awards in the Toboku group shows in Tokyo.

In 1990, Kurokawa and her late husband built a traditional country house in the town of No-se, in the mountains northwest of the City of Osaka. It was there she found the “forgotten Japan” - old houses with straw-thatched roofs, mountains with towering Japanese cedars, plenty of rice fields, and a simple life. Kurokawa flourished as an artist. She would pack her car with painting materials and drove alone to remote villages and countryside to explore and paint. It is a wonderfully nurturing place for an artist. One of her favorite subjects is snow. Sometimes, she would go out in a snowstorm to paint, allowing snowflakes falling on the paper to create dynamic effects characteristic of her winterscapes.

Besides creating art, Kurokawa gets satisfaction from teaching. She was appointed by the principal of an elementary school in Osaka to start a new sumi-e class. Her devotion to the community also prompted her to offer classes for mentally and physically handicapped individuals. Her pupils’ works often surprised and inspired her.

Kurokawa has been showing in Touching Stone Gallery since 2000. The current exhibition shows off her haiku-like sensibility and delicate brushwork, an exquisite style noted for its purity and grace.

1. Arthur W. Dow. 1913. Composition. The County Life Press. NY.

Click on the images to view selected paintings.

Inquiry/order: director@touchingstone.com, see Inquiry/Order

 

 

 Fumiko Kurokawa Grace No.1

Fumiko Kurokawa

Moment of Grace No.1

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 26" x 34.5"

Sold

 

Fumiko Kurokawa Grace No.2 

 Fumiko Kurokawa

Moment of Grace No.2

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 34.5" x 25.5"

Sold

 

 


 

  Fumiko Kurokawa Grace No.3 

Fumiko Kurokawa

Moment of Grace No.3

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 34.5" x 26"

Sold

 

  

 

 

    

 

Fumiko Kurokawa Silent Woods No.1

Fumiko Kurokawa

Silent Woods No.1

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame  29" x 34.5"

Sold

 

 

 

  Fumiko Kurokawa Silent woods No.2

Fumiko Kurokawa

Silent Woods No.2

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 21" x34"

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Fumiko Kurokawa Silent Woods No.3 

 Fumiko Kurokawa

Silent Woods No.3

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 21" x 34"

Sold

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

   Fumiko Kurokawa Grace No.7

Fumiko Kurokawa

Breeze No.1

Sumi-e on Japanese paper

wood frame 25" x 21"

Sold

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fumiko Kurokawa Grace No.8

Fumiko Kurokawa

Breeze No.2

Sumi-e on Japanese paper

wood frame 25" x 21"

Sold

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fumiko Kurokawa Grace 8

Fumiko Kurokawa

Breeze No.3

Sumi-e on Japanese paper

wood frame 25" x 21"

Sold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Fumiko Kurokawa Summer Rain No.1

Fumiko Kurokawa

Summer Rain No.1

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 21" x 25"

Sold





 

Fumiko Kurokawa Summer Rain No.2

Fumiko Kurokawa

Summer Rain No.2

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 25" x 21"

Sold

 



Fumiko Kurokawa Spring Brood

Fumiko Kurokawa

Spring Brood

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 21" x 24.5"

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Fumiko Kurokawa Morning Preening

Fumiko Kurokawa

Morning Preening

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 21" x 25"

Sold






 Fumiko Kurokawa Agariko No.1

Fumiko Kurokawa

Agariko Beech No.1

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 21" x 25"

Sold




 

Fumiko Kurokawa Agariko No.2

Fumiko Kurokawa

Agariko Beech No.2

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 21" x 20"

Sold

 

 

 




Fumiko Kurokawa Half Hidden 

Fumiko Kurokawa

Half Hidden

Sumi-e on Japanese paper, wood frame 26" x 33" (NSF)


Art education
1976-1982 Studied sumi-e with Jo-ichi Fukui
1982-1985 Studied sumi-e with Yasuo Shimizu
1983-1987 Studied pencil and charcoal sketching with Jyoji Kikunami and Shintaro Yasukura
1986-1988 Studied water color painting with Minoru Mihara
1989-present President, Suiboku Nanamidori Kai (Nanamidori Sumi-e Club)
1999-present Instructor, Sankei-gakuen Osaka
2000-present Instructor, Kine Elementary School, Osaka

Awards
1984 Selected for show, open competition, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo
1985 Selected for show, open competition, Itami City, Hyogo
1989 Copper prize, competition sponsored by One Painting Publisher, Tokyo
1991 Selected for show, Japan-France Modern Art Exhibition, Tokyo
1992 Work of Excellence award, Toboku group show, Tokyo
        Selected for show, open competition, Toyonaka City, Osaka
1994 Best of Show award, Toboku group show, Tokyo
        Second prize, open competition, Takarazuka City, Hyogo

Solo shows

1990 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
1991 Gallery Gen, Osaka
1992 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
1994 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
1995 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
1997 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
1998 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
1999 Gallery Kawanishi, Hyogo
        Gallery Kawachi, Osaka
2000 Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2001 Gallery Kawanichi, Hyogo
        Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2002 Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2003 Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2004 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
2005 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
2006 Gallery Ikeda, Osaka
2008 Gallery Kusaka, Tokyo
2011 Toyono Library, Osaka
        Tree House Gallery, Osaka
        Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA