exhibition

Fujio Akai

19.Sep.07 - 09.Oct.07
Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-2

Adam Gallery
24 Cork St
London W1S 3NJ
020 7439 6633
info@adamgallery.com
www.adamgallery.com
Tube Green Park, Piccadilly Circus, Mayfair / Cork Street

The Adam Gallery is delighted to present a selection of Fujio Akai's recent ‘waterpaintings' in his first solo exhibition in the UK. The vibrant and luminous colours are a testament to his unusual use of water based media and give an emotional intensity to the work. The compositions are painted without perspective allowing all parts of the work to have equal significance. The bold colours and seemingly spontaneous abstract style of painting disguise the precision and sophistication of the work. The intense reduction of colour and form bring a meditative quality to the images, while the waves of paint and floating forms create an atmospheric liveliness. Several of these paintings are executed predominantly in warm colours such as pink, orange and red with a contrasting element of blue. They speak to the realm of the emotions. They will remain in your memory and the landscape of your mind long after viewing them.

Fujio Akai was born in Sumatra, Indonesia in 1945, and lived in Kyoto, Japan until 1965. Japanese cultural traditions, in particular painting, have had an important influence on Fujio's artistic practice and output. Japanese painting can be identified for its sense of simplicity and a colourful exuberance – qualities clearly apparent in Fujio's work. Also, the use of the brush throughout the history of Japanese painting and calligraphy is significant – for many years the brush was used as a tool for writing in contrast to the pen. Even in writing the emphasis was on painterly expression. It is this quality in particular that remains evident in Fujio's paintings.

In 1965 Fujio came to Europe to study at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. His work there was experimental, involving performances, music and installations. He founded the art and music group Green Company which toured nightclubs in the Netherlands and Germany and took part in International Festivals. Friends and admirers of his innovative work in Düsseldorf included Sigmar Polke, Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik and Jorg Immendorf. Fellow students also included Reiner Ruthenbeck, Katarina Sieverding, Anatol Herzfeld and Imi Knoebel. His move to Europe signified the absorption of important influences, such as American Abstract Expressionism that was at the height of its prominence at this time. Equally he provided an important link to Japan for many European and American artists – for example in 1970 he travelled with Sol Lewitt and Carl Andre to Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto visiting places such as the Zen Ryunanji Garden. Akai retains his connection with Germany and Europe and divides his time between Brussels, Cologne and Japan.

Fujio Akai has had numerous solo exhibitions including the Goethe Institute, Osaka (1993) and Kyoto (1987), Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf (1990), Gallery Alting, Antwerp (1992), Fujio Akai 1967-1998 at Museum Bochum, Germany (1998), National Gallery Kuala Lumpur (1999) and Gallery Beethovenstraße Düsseldorf (2001 and 2004) and Nicols Düsseldorf (April 2007). Group exhibitions have included ‘Conversations on Cork Street' at the Adam Gallery (2006) and ‘Ikiro – Be Alive' at the Kröller-Müller Museum, Arnheim, the Netherlands (2001). In 1990 he was awarded the prestigious August Macke prize. His work can be found in many private and public collections in Europe and Japan..