Upon entering the gallery, viewers are drawn into a mysterious pictorial space that creates the illusion of wandering through a deep forest of dark, leafy imagery. It is often said that contemporary painting by younger artists has become increasingly superficial and fragile, yet there are still moments when one encounters the excitement of discovering a new talent.

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After studying sculpture at Seian University of Art and Design, Fukuyama continued his artistic development in painting at the graduate school of Aichi University of the Arts. Although his paintings are a relatively recent development in his practice, they reveal a persistent concern with constructing space through an awareness of three-dimensional form.

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When confronting the question of how to negotiate the boundary between painting and sculpture, the artist is drawn to the fragile motif of reverie. Dominating the picture plane are dark, floating forms that resemble scattered leaves.

These forms can appear either as faces or as purely compositional arrangements, unsettling perception through a trompe-l'œil-like ambiguity. The presence of what might be called a “Black Sun” lies at the foundation of his creative practice. Within the life that hovers at the very edge of darkness, there also lingers the scent of death.

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Black functions as a kind of shadow image, interacting with the lantern-like glow that drifts behind it, creating a heightened sense of depth and layered meaning.

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June 12, 2013

Masato Kurotani

Arts and Culture Department, Editorial Bureau, Chunichi Shimbun

Excerpted from a review published in Chunichi Shimbun.