FUKAMI Gashu

Born: 1953 in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu
Medium: Color Woodblock Prints


Mr. Fukami was born on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. He moved to
Kyoto for college, graduating from Doshisha University in 1975. It was there he first
discovered the primitive woodblock prints of Azechi Umetaro and Asano Takeji. Gashu
began his own studies of printmaking in Kyoto in 1977, followed by a year in Boston at
the Kaji Aso Studio.

Kyoto was the artist’s residence in the early 1980s where he had the first one-man
show at Heian Gallery. He moved to Nagasaki in 1988, living in a large house halfway
up a mountain. It required a steep climb up 200 narrow stone stairs, but had wonderful
views of the ships below. He was inspired watching the night sea, the moon and
numerous cats. His home has been in the northern Kyushu city of Fukuoka since 1997.
The style of Gashu’s prints is distinctively personal. We immediately recognize
his bold, colorful and whimsical creations. Their appeal comes from a playful innocence
as much as the striking use of color. Favorite themes are animals--birds, cats, insects, etc.
His still life and figure studies embody the same refreshing qualities.
The woodblock prints are rendered in a suitably small size--so the viewer can
savor these wonderful gems up close.


One Person Exhibitions:
Fukuoka
Nagasaki
Wakayama
Osaka
Kyoto