SUGIURA Kazutoshi

Born: 1938, in Kyoto, Japan
Medium: Silkscreen on gold leaf

Sugiura graduated from the Kyoto Municipal College of Fine Arts in 1963, where he studied Japanese oil painting and serigraphy. While still an undergraduate, he was commissioned to do an edition of silkscreen prints by the International Graphic Art Society in New York. Since then he has also spent four years studying classical Japanese paintings, and the art of gold leaf restoration at the Kyoto National Museum of Antiquities.

More recently, Sugiura’s focus has been on silkscreen prints of flowers--most often peonies and Japanese iris. He demonstrates a particularly sensitive eye for creating works that are rich in color and appealing in composition. A unique hallmark of his art is the use of gold leaf applied to a sheet of paper before the silkscreen process is begun. This provides a subtle and effective background, which is so reminiscent of antique Japanese screens. The gold leaf makes the paper impervious to silkscreen ink, so Sugiura’s prints are marked with a mottling of ink lying on the surface. This process lends texture and three dimensionality to the serene compositions. A man who values his own art education, Sugiura teaches art in a Kyoto High School, and can therefore devote only a small amount of time to his own artwork.

Exhibitions:
Japan Print Association, Kyoto
CWAJ Print Show, Tokyo
Yamada Art Gallery, Kyoto
Traveling one-man show, Canada
New York City
Melbourne, Australia
London, England
Washington, DC
Lakeville, Connecticut
San Francisco, CA
Portland Museum, Maine
The Ren Brown Collection, Bodega Bay, California

Collections:
Brooklyn Museum of Art