ARTIST INFO

Susumu KOSHIMIZU

Susumu KOSHIMIZU

Susumu Koshimizu was born in Uwajima, Ehime in 1944. He enrolled in the Department of Sculpture of Tama Art University in 1966, where Koshimizu met Katsuhiko Narita, Nobuo Sekine, and Katsuro Yoshida, who would later become central figures of the mono-ha movement. During the university conflict, Koshimizu studied under Yoshishige Saito and Jiro Takamatsu in an independent seminar outside the school. At the time, the Japanese sculpture world had not yet broken the traditional norms of the Western canon of sculpture, but after witnessing the process of Nobuo Sekine’s Phase—Mother Earth in 1968, which marked the beginning of mono-ha, Koshimizu began to pursue creative works that transcended conventional concepts of sculpture such as space and volume. As he continued to reflectively question the act of creation itself, Koshimizu began to pay attention to the environment surrounding him, focusing on materials familiar to Eastern people such as wood, stone, paper, clay, and iron. His works, which offer a fresh perspective on the existence and function of materials, as well as their relationship to humanity through slight intervention and combination, are highly regarded as bringing a change in the world of Japanese sculpture. Koshimizu also taught at Kyoto City University of Arts since 1978, where he produced many young artists, even after retiring from the school, Koshimizu actively creates works, leading the art world for five decades, based in the Kansai region.

Koshimizu had solo exhibitions including Susumu Koshimizu, The National Museum of Art, Osaka (1987); SUSUMU KOSHIMIZU: Sculptor of today, of a culture, The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu (1992); Susumu Koshimizu, Kuma Museum of Art (2005); Susumu Koshimizu, Blum & Poe (2013); and Kizahashi no Niwa, Gallery Yamaki Fine Art (2015). He also participated in various group exhibitions including the 10th Tokyo Biennale 1970: Between man and matter, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, and Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (1970); The 7th Paris Youth Biennale, Parc Floral de Paris (1972); the 37th Venice Biennale (Planning Section) (1976); Mono-ha and Post Mono-ha, Seibu Museum of Art (1987); Susumu Koshimizu and Natsuki Kurimoto, Nishinomiya Otani Memorial Museum of Art (1994); Matter and Perception 1970: mono-ha and the search for fundamentals, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama (1995); Reconsidering Mono-ha, The National Museum of Art, Osaka (2005); and Requiem for the Sun: The Art of Mono-ha, Blum & Poe (2012). 

His works are in the collections of various museums including Tate Modern; Dallas Museum of Art; National Museum of Art; The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum; Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art; Art Tower Mito, Art Division, City of Gifu; Chiba City Museum of Art, Shiseido Company; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama; Mie Prefectural Art Museum; Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art; Takamatsu City Museum of Art; Toyota Municipal Museum of Art; Hara Museum ARC; Nagoya City Art Museum; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art; Ube Tokiwa Museum. Koshimizu has also received numerous awards, including the 1999 Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Contribution Award, and the 2004 Shiju hosho (Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon).

---------------------

Works

  • Title
    Relief, Line- horizon
    Size
    72.6×75cm
    Year
    2015
    Medium
    plywood, paper, pastel, wire
  • Title
    From Surface to Surface- canvas
    Size
    each 84×72cm
    Year
    1973
    Medium
    canvas, wooden frame
  • Title
    a tetrahedron- Cast Iron
    Size
    87×75×74cm
    Year
    1992
    Medium
    iron
  • Title
    Relief '91-21
    Size
    150×121×7cm
    Year
    1991
    Medium
    hazel plywood, pigment
  • Title
    Chesnut and Tricolor
    Size
    each 210×30×7.5cm
    Year
    2016
    Medium
    chestnut, pigment
  • Title
    Relief, Line- horizon
    Size
    72.6×75cm
    Year
    2015
    Medium
    plywood, paper, pastel, wire
  • Title
    From Surface to Surface- canvas
    Size
    each 84×72cm
    Year
    1973
    Medium
    canvas, wooden frame
  • Title
    a tetrahedron- Cast Iron
    Size
    87×75×74cm
    Year
    1992
    Medium
    iron
  • Title
    Relief '91-21
    Size
    150×121×7cm
    Year
    1991
    Medium
    hazel plywood, pigment
  • Title
    Chesnut and Tricolor
    Size
    each 210×30×7.5cm
    Year
    2016
    Medium
    chestnut, pigment

CV

1944
Born in Uwajima, Ehime, Japan
1966
Graduated from Tama Art University
1968
Participated in the production of by Nobuo SEKINE
1974
Moved to Kansai region
1994
Appointed as a professor at Kyoto City University of Arts
2003
Received the 2nd Enku Award
2010
Inaugurated as an emeritus professor at Kyoto City University of Arts
2011
Inaugurated as president of Takarazuka University

Selected Solo Exhibitions

1981
Takashimaya Department Store, Tokyo to celebrate 10th Denchu Hirakushi Prize
1992
Sculptor of Today, of a Culture” The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Ehime Prefectual Museum of Art, Ehime
1993
“Susumu Koshimizu” Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo
2005
“Susumu Koshimizu,” Kuma Museum of Art, Ehime, Japan
2010
Retirement commemoration exhibition ”gravity / mass / work” , Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto
2010
“Snow departs from snow” (Tokyo Gallery+BTAP, Tokyo)
2013
"Susumu Koshimizu," Gallery Yamaki Fine Art, Kobe, Japan
2013
Blum&Poe, Los Angels, CA, USA
2015
Kizahashi no Niwa, Gallery Yamaki Fine Art, Kobe, Japan
2016
Blum&Poe, Los Angels, Tokyo, Japan
2018
“The Moment of Vision, Body and Matter,” Gallery Yamaki Fine Art, Kobe, Japan.
2019
MONO-HA | About The Moment Of Relation Between Eye, Hand And Matter, Aki Gakkery, Taipei
2021
“Perpendicular Line”, Tokyo Gallery+BTAP, Tokyo, Japan.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2012
(日本語) 「言葉と美術が繋ぐものー中原佑介へのオマージュ展」ギャラリーヤマキファインアート/神戸
2016
Art Basel Hong Kong
2017
"When Attitudes Become Form: Japanese Art of the 1970s through the Photography of Anzaï Shigeo," The National Museum of Modern Art, Osaka, Japan
2020
Taipei Dangdai Art&Ideas Gallery Yamaki Fine Art Booth, Taipei, Taiwan
2020
“PolyChord Susumu KOSHIMIZU and Noriyuki HARAGUCHI”, Asia Art Center Shanghai, China
2020
“Great Artists in Takarazuka”, Takarazuka Arts Center, Takarazuka, Japan
2020
“Collection: The Aesthetics of Contemporary Japan”, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
2021
“Collection 1: 1968: In Search of a New Paradigm”, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
2021
“Collection Exhibition in 2021”, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan
2021
“Contemporary Kyoto Art 2021 - Non and Anima II" Ryosokuin, The Terminal Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
2021
“Mountains Carrying Suns”, Blum & Poe, Tokyo, Japan
2021
“Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK)” Kyoto International Conference Center Event Hall, Gallery Yamaki Fine Art Booth, Kyoto, Japan
2022
“Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK)” Kyoto International Conference Center Event Hall, Gallery Yamaki Fine Art Booth, Kyoto, Japan
2022
“Study:Osaka Kansai International Art Festival / Art Fair 2022” Grand Front Osaka, Gallery Yamaki Fine Art Booth, Osaka, Japan
2023
“Concept – Object – Environment”, Gallery Yamaki Fine Art, Kobe
2023
Taipei Dangdai Art&Ideas Gallery Yamaki Fine Art Booth, Taipei, Taiwan
2024
Group Exhibition: Relief to Three Dimensional, Gallery Yamaki Fine Art, Kobe

Awards

1972
The 2nd Suma Palace Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition / Ube Sculpture Museum Award
1980
The 11th Nakahara Teijirou Award
1981
The 10th Hirakushi Denchu Award
1983
New Generation of Contemporary Art, Okada Foundation Award
1985
The 11th Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition / The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Award
1987
The 11th Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition / Mainichi Newspapers Award
1988
Showa 62, Art Encouragement, Minister of Culture Award
1989
The 2nd Kyoto Art and Culture Award
1999
Kyoto Award for distinguished cultural service
2004
The 2nd Enku Award
2007
A Purple Ribbon Medal