PRINTPROVENANCE:
Shinseido-Hatanaka Art Gallery, Tokyo
Private collection, Asia
Catalogue Note:
Hiroshi Senju was born in 1958 in Tokyo, Japan, and graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts. Currently residing in New York, Senju is a contemporary Japanese artist famous for his large-scale paintings of waterfalls and cliffs. Senju’s simple and powerful visual art language combines abstract expressionism and traditional Japanese painting techniques in perfect harmony. Senju’s early works feature high-rise buildings and cityscapes, an urban “native land” theme inspired by the urban environment of his childhood. In an environment with no whooshing airplanes or clanking factories, only the emotionless
sound of speeding cars, the late-evening sun illuminates tall, cold concrete blocks; the glowing light seems to reflect the lonely and distant face of a young man. In these works, based on a color palette of reds, yellows, blues and greys, one can see the depth and expansiveness of Senju’s inner world. Through his urban series, landscape series and desert series, Senju fuses the natural world of the East and the spiritual world of the West. From the real world to the infinite future, Senju’s overarching focus is an expression of ''the power of the Earth,” an attempt to capture images of the Earth and even the universe.
This piece, ''Waterfall'' , is among the Landscape Series created by the artist following his 1991 ''Desert Series'', featuring the theme of ''Rainbow Waterfall''. Created in 2015, this waterfall painting emphasizes “blue” in the series, and features strong light and shadow application that makes the lonely shadows stand out. In his landscape series, Senju continues with cold-toned imagery. Through western-style remoteness and the application of depth and distance to create space, Senju produces a unique interpretation of nature. The eternal cycle of birth and death of all the earth’s flora and fauna are seen as but a fleeting moment, a drop of water in an infinite ocean; however, the depiction of a trickle of water entering a river is also symbolic of eternity. In these, the existence of the subjective “I” is confirmed; simultaneously, humanity understands that this ''I'' is only a moment in eternity.
In ''Waterfall'' , Senju employs ancient techniques of painting with mineral-based pigments made from ground stones, shells and corals mixed with glue from animal hide. He carefully pastes the mulberry paper onto the board in semi-translucent paint, creating a sense of calm and unrestrained movement of nature. Standing before this piece, one can almost hear the roar of the water, smell the damp air, and feel cool mist moistening one’s skin. In this piece, the artist rendered the waterfall in luminous mineral pigments. In daylight, the paintings appear in black and white, and under ultraviolet light, the light colors glow and the dark colors appear in deep blue, creating two kinds of visual effects. The ingenious dual effect is like an ode to the omnipresent city lights in our everyday lives. Senju’s waterfalls hover between day and night, seeming to span the metropolitan and the natural, reality and dream.
The viewer’s eye flows across the painting with the water, following the artist's careful application of pigment on the framed Japanese traditional mulberry paper, drawing out the shape and endless flowing effect of the waterfall. As we are immersed into the water’s softness and force, we become aware of the power and beauty of nature. Behind this is the aesthetic consciousness of traditional Japanese painting. The white sand and scattered rocks evoke a modern Zen garden landscape and symbolize the ocean, extending the universe into an infinite imaginary landscape. The vertical aesthetic of the waterfall, with white mist offset against a blue background, is different from the ''engraving of time'' depicted by the contrast of the moving waterfall and still background. The rushing waterfall in the painting is like an image
captured by a camera. Everything seems to stop in a split second. The feeling it creates is like an abstract painting. Waterfall painting presents the movement of time and space, tracing the birth of the universe and times beyond memory.
Shinseido-Hatanaka Art Gallery, Tokyo
Private collection, Asia
Catalogue Note:
Hiroshi Senju was born in 1958 in Tokyo, Japan, and graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts. Currently residing in New York, Senju is a contemporary Japanese artist famous for his large-scale paintings of waterfalls and cliffs. Senju’s simple and powerful visual art language combines abstract expressionism and traditional Japanese painting techniques in perfect harmony. Senju’s early works feature high-rise buildings and cityscapes, an urban “native land” theme inspired by the urban environment of his childhood. In an environment with no whooshing airplanes or clanking factories, only the emotionless
sound of speeding cars, the late-evening sun illuminates tall, cold concrete blocks; the glowing light seems to reflect the lonely and distant face of a young man. In these works, based on a color palette of reds, yellows, blues and greys, one can see the depth and expansiveness of Senju’s inner world. Through his urban series, landscape series and desert series, Senju fuses the natural world of the East and the spiritual world of the West. From the real world to the infinite future, Senju’s overarching focus is an expression of ''the power of the Earth,” an attempt to capture images of the Earth and even the universe.
This piece, ''Waterfall'' , is among the Landscape Series created by the artist following his 1991 ''Desert Series'', featuring the theme of ''Rainbow Waterfall''. Created in 2015, this waterfall painting emphasizes “blue” in the series, and features strong light and shadow application that makes the lonely shadows stand out. In his landscape series, Senju continues with cold-toned imagery. Through western-style remoteness and the application of depth and distance to create space, Senju produces a unique interpretation of nature. The eternal cycle of birth and death of all the earth’s flora and fauna are seen as but a fleeting moment, a drop of water in an infinite ocean; however, the depiction of a trickle of water entering a river is also symbolic of eternity. In these, the existence of the subjective “I” is confirmed; simultaneously, humanity understands that this ''I'' is only a moment in eternity.
In ''Waterfall'' , Senju employs ancient techniques of painting with mineral-based pigments made from ground stones, shells and corals mixed with glue from animal hide. He carefully pastes the mulberry paper onto the board in semi-translucent paint, creating a sense of calm and unrestrained movement of nature. Standing before this piece, one can almost hear the roar of the water, smell the damp air, and feel cool mist moistening one’s skin. In this piece, the artist rendered the waterfall in luminous mineral pigments. In daylight, the paintings appear in black and white, and under ultraviolet light, the light colors glow and the dark colors appear in deep blue, creating two kinds of visual effects. The ingenious dual effect is like an ode to the omnipresent city lights in our everyday lives. Senju’s waterfalls hover between day and night, seeming to span the metropolitan and the natural, reality and dream.
The viewer’s eye flows across the painting with the water, following the artist's careful application of pigment on the framed Japanese traditional mulberry paper, drawing out the shape and endless flowing effect of the waterfall. As we are immersed into the water’s softness and force, we become aware of the power and beauty of nature. Behind this is the aesthetic consciousness of traditional Japanese painting. The white sand and scattered rocks evoke a modern Zen garden landscape and symbolize the ocean, extending the universe into an infinite imaginary landscape. The vertical aesthetic of the waterfall, with white mist offset against a blue background, is different from the ''engraving of time'' depicted by the contrast of the moving waterfall and still background. The rushing waterfall in the painting is like an image
captured by a camera. Everything seems to stop in a split second. The feeling it creates is like an abstract painting. Waterfall painting presents the movement of time and space, tracing the birth of the universe and times beyond memory.