Hino gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition entitled "Painting Conscious" by Koji Sagawa from Saturday March 5, 2022.

Sagawa was born in Fukui Prefecture in 1955. He decided to become a painter when he was in high school, and moved to Tokyo for higher education. In 1985, he withdrew from the doctoral program of the Tokyo University of the Arts, and in the same year, he began working at Kyoto Seika University. While he was a student on the oil painting course at Tokyo University of the Arts, the art world was in a period of transition, and he temporarily left painting and tried to express himself through three-dimensional art and video. However, after a period of “groping in the dark”, he gradually became convinced by a sense of “freedom that is guaranteed by the frame of painting”, and turned his attention to painting again, consistently establishing his own unique style consisting of colored surfaces, lines, and geometric shapes: this practice has continued from around 1980 until today.

Sagawa's studio is located in the countryside surrounded by the rolling mountains of Shiga Prefecture. The artist, who emphasizes that making work is part of daily life, says that “painting is an extremely important way to keep in touch with the irreplaceability of life” and, “I would like to produce works that essentially question the possibilities of pictorial expression by considering the relationship between perception and the landscape around us.” It could be said that through the motifs related to diamonds and triangles that appear in Sagawa's paintings, the viewer can somehow experience a closer connection to natural scenery and landscape painting as opposed to figurative depictions of the landscape.

This will be his first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 22 years, and his first at Hino gallery. This exhibition will feature the most recent works as well as representative oil paintings from recent years. We hope you will enjoy the exhibition.

*To prevent the spread of COVID-19, no opening reception will be held. Please wear a mask when you come to the gallery. Also, please note that our regular opening hours have changed to 11am - 6pm. The period of the exhibition and opening hours may change according to future circumstances. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Image: Studio in progress 2022.1.15