Hiroshi Senju

Hiroshi Senju (千住博, Senju Hiroshi, born 1958) is a Japanese painter known for his large scale waterfall paintings.^[1] These waterfall paintings often focus at the base of the waterfall where the falls crash into the pool below, usually cropping out the top of the falls.^[1] As a painter he primarily uses traditional Japanese painting techniques; employing pigments derived from natural materials and applying them to a specially designed mulberry paper.^[2] In contrast to the norm of displaying such works in a dimly lit, tatami matted room, Hiroshi prefers his paintings to be viewed under natural light.^[3]

Education

Senju graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1982. In 1987 he finished the Ph.D program at the Graduate School of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.^[2]

Works

His success largely came about in the 1990s in response to his gigantic waterfall paints.^[1] These paintings often hung in corporate and public buildings, and Senju has been said to be one of a few artists today whose work is recognized by the general population.^[1]

Waterfall fusuma paintings at Shofuso Japanese House and Garden

In 2007, Hiroshi Senju created a series of 20 fusuma (paper sliding door) murals for Shofuso Japanese House and Garden,^[4] a traditional Japanese house and garden in Philadelphia, PA. Asked to replace the destroyed fusuma paintings of Japanese National Treasure, artist Higashiyama Kaii, Senju said, "Shofuso offers a wonderful space for murals far exceeding my expectations, and I will do my best to paint murals symbolizing and important symbolic exchange between Japan and the United States."^[4]

Waterfall murals at Shofuso

Senju completed the installation in July 2006.^[4] He named the largest murals (8'x 12 1/2'), which serve as the centerpiece in the tokonoma alcove, Water Curtain, a play on the classic symbol of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain.^[4] This curtain, with its layers of falling water, was meant to symbolize the freedom of Philadelphia, the birthplace of the United States.^[4] The six murals in the first room are named Imagination of Dynamics and those of the second room are titled Imagination of Silence.^[4]

The murals were first exhibited at Gwangju Biennale in South Korea in 2006 and were subsequently exhibited at the Yamitane Museum in Tokyo, Japan.^[4] More than fifty thousand visitors saw the murals prior to their installation at Shofuso.^[4] The murals were then shipped to their final destination in Philadelphia, arriving in March and installed in April 2007.^[4]

In donating the new murals, Senju honored Shofuso in the ancient Japanese tradition of master painters offering their talents to the community.^[4] Shofuso is the only place outside of Japan to house a unique combination of contemporary art and traditional Japanese architecture.^[4]

Museum

Hiroshi Senju Museum Karuizawa opened 10 October 2011 in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.^[3] The museum was designed by architect Ryue Nishizawa, and consists of windows which make up the walls, a gently sloping concrete floor which naturally contours to the ground, and thin concrete walls scattered throughout the center of the museum which support the ceiling.^[3] The museum is owned and operated by the International Cultural College Foundation which possesses around 100 works by Hiroshi, about half of which can be displayed in the museum at any given time.^[3]

References