Drawings by Painter Makoto Fujimura at Kittredge Gallery

TACOMA, Wash. – Process Drawings: Recent Works by Makoto Fujimura showcases recent works by the abstract expressionist painter that provide insight into his creative process and the evolution of an important group of his large-scale paintings created since 2007.

Makoto Fujimura is an artist, writer, and orator. He has exhibited his work exploring spiritual and metaphysical themes at galleries and museums around the world, including the Dillon Gallery in New York, Sato Museum in Tokyo, The Contemporary Museum of Tokyo, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts Museum, Bentley Gallery in Arizona, Gallery Exit and Oxford House at Taikoo Place in Hong Kong, and Vienna’s Belvedere Museum.

Fujimura was the 2014 recipient of the American Academy of Religion’s Arts and Religion Award and was a presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts from 2003 to 2009. He also has served as an international arts advocate and advisor on governmental policies on the arts.

This exhibition also includes collaborative paintings created in live performances with Susie Ibarra, a composer, and percussionist. Their creation is featured in Golden Sea, the artist’s documentary film, which traces Fujimura and Ibarra’s collaborative journey from New York's legendary Brecht Forum to Carnegie Hall.

Fujimura offers the works in this exhibition, "These process drawings are made concurrent to painting large-scale paintings. They are monotype-like works, pulled off the surface of the painting, full of refracting minerals. Willem de Kooning's technique derives from ‘freezing’ the gestures of paint with newspaper, but I consider these ‘ghost’ images to be just as significant as the original. These drawings, which have never been exhibited before, reveal my intuitive process, as well as the sense of mystery attached to the Nihonga materials I use: hand-lifted paper, azurite and malachite minerals, gold and platinum powder pigments.”

A screening of the artist’s documentary film Golden Sea will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Monday, March 2, Kilworth Chapel, followed by a reception in Kittredge Gallery from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The screening and reception are free and open to the public.

Makoto Fujimura is part of the Visiting Scholar Program at the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Vancouver, Wash., and this exhibition was brought to Kittredge Gallery through its support.

Kittredge Gallery serves as a teaching tool for the art and art history department and a cultural resource for both the university and the community, exhibiting work by noted regional and national artists. Exhibits and talks are free and open to the public.

Opening Reception:
March 2, 5 to 6:30 p.m., Kittredge Gallery

Gallery Location: the University of Puget Sound, N. 15th St. at N. Lawrence St., Tacoma, WA
Directions and Map: pugetsound.edu/directions
Regular Hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Mon.–Fri.; noon–5 p.m., Saturday 
Website: pugetsound.edu/kittredge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KittredgeGallery

Press Photos are available on request.