Eri Iwasaki circumvents the boundaries of Nihonga, the traditional Japanese painting style, with her expressive portraits of young children and women. While experimenting with the prescribed materials of Nihonga such as mineral pigments and silver and gold leaf, Iwasaki draws on her favorite childhood manga characters and Buddhist sculpture to move freely beyond the genre. With swirling lines of platinum paint on paper-thin sheets of gold leaf, she pulls the hidden emotions from her subjects to create forms that convey both gentleness and solemnity. Throughout her practice, Iwasaki seeks to explore the physical and emotional barriers that we wrap around ourselves when we feel vulnerable to the world, and in turn how we can learn to dissolve the hardened shells we create.
Profile
| Born in Hyogo, Japan in 1968 Lives and works in Kyoto, Japan |
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| 【Education】 | |
| 1990 | Graduated from Kyoto Saga Junior College of Art, Major in Nihonga |
| 【Selected Solo Exhibitions】 | |
| 2022 | Eri Iwasaki Nihonga-ten (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi) Eri Iwasaki-ten (KAHO GALLERY, Kyoto) |
| 2020 | Eri Iwasaki: Tiny Night, Tiny Light (SEIZAN Gallery, New York) Eri Iwasaki: Chiisana Hikari, Chiisana Yoru (Takashimaya Osaka, Osaka) |
| 2019 | Eri Iwasaki Nihonga-ten (KAHO GALLERY, Kyoto) |
| 2018 | Eri Iwasaki Nihonga-ten (Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, continued in 2021) |
| 2017 | Eri Iwasaki Nihonga-ten: Hibi (Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi) |
| 2015 | Eri Iwasaki Nihonga-ten: Kanata no Hikari, Sekai no Hajimari (Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo; Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi） |
| 2013 | Eri Iwasaki Nihonga-ten: a garden (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo） |
| 2011 | Eri Iwasaki Nihonga-ten: stories Hito wo Egaku (Nihombashi Mitsukoshi,Tokyo; JR Osaka Mitsukoshi Isetan, Osaka; Sendai Mitsukoshi, Miyagi) |
| 2005 | Solo Exhibition (Tokyo, continued in 2007) |
| 1999 | Solo Exhibition (Kyoto, continued in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009) |
| 【Selected Group Exhibitions】 | |
| 2023 | Summer Group Show (SEIZAN Gallery, New York) Kazari Uchiwa to Nihonga 6nin-ten (Osaka Takashimaya, Osaka) |
| 2022 | HAKU: The Art of Gold and Silver Leafing (SEIZAN Gallery, New York) Art no Chikara 2022 (Osaka Takashimaya, Osaka) Art on Paper (SEIZAN Gallery booth, New York) Summer Group Show (SEIZAN Gallery, New York) |
| 2021 | Market Art & Design -The Hamptons (SEIZAN Gallery booth, Bridgehampton, NY) |
| 2020 | Art on Paper (Pier 36, 299 South Street, SEIZAN Gallery Booth, New York, continued in 2022) ONLINE EXHIBITION 除災招福 JO SAI SHO FUKU (WARD OFF CALAMITIES, INVITE GOOD LUCK): GODS AND YOKAI IN TIME OF PANDEMIC (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo; SEIZAN Gallery, New York) |
| 2019 | Reimagined: Contemporary Artists Take on The Tale of Genji (SEIZAN Gallery, New York) |
| 2018 | Nihonga: Contemporary Art of Japan (SEIZAN Gallery, New York) |
| 2017 | The Red: Woman (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo) Nihonga Group Seishin (Kyoto Takashimaya, Kyoto; Osaka Takashimaya, Osaka; Nihombashi Takashimaya, Tokyo, Through 2018) |
| 2016 | So to Zo 2016: Gendai Nihon Ega, Kogei, Shinsaku-ten (Tokyo Art Club, Kyoto Art Club, Kanazawa Art Club, Osaka Art Club, Nagoya Art Club, Through 2018) |
| 2015 | Something Precious (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo, Through 2018, 2023) |
| 2014 | Wakate Nihonga-ten (Niigata Mitsukoshi, Niigata) |
| 2012 | ASIA TOP GALLERY HOTEL ART FAIR HK12 Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong (Hong Kong) ART KYOTO 2012 (Kyoto) ART TAIPEI (Taipei, Through 2013) |
| 2009 | Kyoto Nihonga Shin-ten (JR Kyoto Isetan, Art Museum Eki KYOTO, Kyoto, Through 2011) Art Fair Tokyo 2009 (Tokyo International Forum, SEIZAN Gallery Booth, Tokyo) Nihonga: Kyo (Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, until 2018; travelled to JR Osaka Mitsukoshi Isetan, Osaka in 2011- 2014） KIAF Korea International Art Fair (Seoul, continued in 2011) Tokyo Contemporary Art Fair (Tokyo) |
| 2008 | Nihonga, Kyoto Kara no Hyogen NEXT no 10-nen kan, 1998 – 2007 ” （Osaka Seikei University, Osaka） Sho: Jidai wo Kirihiraku Nihonga-ten (Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo) |
| 2007 | Nihonga Hyogen no Tayosei (Osaka Seikei University, Osaka) |
| 2006 | Nihonga no Miryoku – Utsukushiki Hito to Kokoro, Ningen Hyogen, Meiji Kara Gendai Made (Tokushima Modern Art Museum, Tokushima) |
| 2001 | Kyoto-fu Bijutsu Kōgei Senbatsu-ten (Kyoto Bunka Museum, Kyoto, continued in 2003, 2005) |
| 2000 | NEXT-ten (Kyoto, continued in 2004-2007) |
| 【Public Collections】 | |
| Kyoto Prefecture | |
| 【Awards】 | |
| 2010 | Kyoto City Emerging Artist Award |
| 2001 | Kyo-ten Exhibition (Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art), Mayor’s Award |
| 1998 | Kyoto Nihonga Painters Association Selection Exhibition, Mainichi Newspaper Award |
| 1997 | Aogaki 2001 Nihonga-ten, Hyogo Arts & Culture Association Award Kyo-ten Exhibition (Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art), Kurenai Award |
| 1993 | Kyo-ten Exhibition (Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art), Kurenai Award |
| 1991 | Ohmishima Art Museum New Kyoto Nihonga Artist Exhibition, Honorable Mention |
| 1990 | Daikakuji Award for Thesis Work |
| 【Publications】 | |
| 2017 | Front page design of the book Ančerl no Chō by Junko Tōda (2017) published by Kobunsha Co., Ltd. |
| 2016 | Front page design of the book Ai no Ame by Risako Asano (2016) published by POPLAR Publishing Co., Ltd., |
| 2011 | Front page design of the book Tsubomi by Natsu MIyashita (2011) published by Kobunsha Co., Ltd. |
Exhibitions
Ebisu and Daikoku
11/01/2024(thu) - 23/01/2024(tue)
Ruiji Aiba, Yasushi Ikejiri, Eri Iwasaki, Haruomi Izumi, Emi Katsuta, Yuki Koyano, Yoji Kumagai, Tatsuya Maruyama, Yoshiki Masuda, Eri Muranaka, Shunsuke Ochi, Kei Sugiyama, Shinya Tamai, Koki Tsujimoto, Yuki Yatsu,
JOKER
10/12/2021(fri) - 22/12/2021(wed)
Hiroyuki Aoyama, Yukiko Hata, Yasushi Ikejiri, Haruomi Izumi, Eri Iwasaki, Yuki Koyano, Yoji Kumagai, machumaYu, Ayumu Matsuoka, Shunsuke Ochi, Akifumi Okumura, Toru Otsuki, Shinji Oya, Yurika Roppongi, Ken Shiozaki, Kei Sugiyama, Asako Tabata, Motohide Takami, Shinya Tamai, Koki Tsujimoto, Ami Yamashiro, Yohei Yashima, Yuki Yatsu, Kaz Watabe, Hao Yumo,
The RED – Women –
09/06/2017(fri) - 21/06/2017(wed)
Ikuyo YASUDA, Eri IWASAKI, Ayana OTAKE, Sanami SHIMADA, Shiki TAIRA