Hiroshi Senju
| Hiroshi Senju | |
|---|---|
Senju at Rizzoli in 2010
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| Born |
Hiroshi Senju 7 January 1958 Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Education | Tokyo University of the Arts |
| Known for | Painting, Nihonga |
| Notable work | Waterfall, Cliff |
| Awards | Honorable Mention Award at the Venice Biennale in 1995 |
Hiroshi Senju (千住博 Senju Hiroshi?, born 1958) is a Nihonga painter known for his large scale waterfall paintings.
He completed MFA program in Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts, 1984. He withdrew from the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts after fulfilling the credit requirements in 1987. His graduation work was purchased by The University of Tokyo.
His success largely came about in the 1990s in response to his gigantic waterfall paints. 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.
Senju’s waterfall was the first painting by an Asian artist to be awarded the Honorable Mention at the Venice Biennale in 1995.
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. 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. 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.
In 1995, at the 46th Venice Biennale celebrating its centennial year, Senju, who represented Japan, exhibited a huge waterfall mural in Japan Pavilion, measuring 3.4 meters high and 14 meters wide. Senju titled the work “THE FALL”, which implied the fall of man, in Christian theology, God expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden.
During the installation process, a welding contractor accidentally dropped scorching coal tar on his painting. Senju, watching the incident happened, immediately rushed for it and removed the coal tar by his bare hand. He had to go to emergency hospital with his left hand got burned. The only consolation was that Senju’s dominant hand was uninjured, being able to repair the damage by the opening of Biennale.
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