SUSUMU KAMIJO: I THINK SO
Marvin Gardens is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition by Susumu Kamijo. The show title: “I Think So” pulled from conversations with the artist, characterizes in part his humble and dedicated approach toward exploration in painting and drawing. A sense of chasing discovery is evident in the concise handling of media, retaining a lightness of place not overly labored.
On view are mixed-media paintings and drawings that twist from figurative beginnings toward abstractions, and vice versa. Faces and bodies in bright colors become abstracted via the placement of shapes and rendering of textures. Simultaneously, arrangements of surprising combinations of material and shape build into imagistic compositions.
Additionally on view is a set of four drawings of poodles. Each image is of a single dog in portrait format, sculpted in the continental style, set against an abstracted landscape. These take an opposite approach in their creation. Beginning with subject matter personal to him, Kamijo starts within this set framework and works toward abstracting and simplifying the shapes and textures of the image. Made of only color pencil and occasional bursts of spray paint, these works also employ a more focused palette that matches the reduced use of media.
Kamijo received his MFA from the University of Washington in 2002, preceded by a BFA at the University of Oregon. His works have previously been shown at Regina Rex, Place Gallery, Marvin Gardens, and The Third Policeman. He lives and works in the company of two poodles in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
