Hiroshi Senju Baptises Sundaram Tagore’s New London Space
Technicolour waterfall paintings are a new development in Senju's practice that emerged during his pandemic lockdown in New York.
Hiroshi Senju in the studio. Courtesy Sundaram Tagore.
Sundaram Tagore Gallery is launching its London space with an exhibition of new waterfall paintings by New York-based Japanese painter Hiroshi Senju.
Hiroshi Senju: There is Still a Light opens today and continues through 21 May, with a cocktail reception to celebrate the gallery's official opening on 9 May.
Senju is known for synthesising Nihonga, or traditional Japanese painting, with the paint pouring method of the American Abstract Expressionists.
His monumental works evoke the awe of natural wonders, and have earned him various accolades including an Honourable Mention at the 1995 Venice Biennale and the Isamu Noguchi Award in 2017.
'Today with just small differences people fight, hatred grows, and wars begin. But the natural world is a place of refuge and a common ground we share that transcends natural, cultural and ideological boundaries,' Senju said.
Senju was inspired to embrace a multi-chromatic palette after the pandemic lockdown, as isolation in his New York studio allowed for close observation of the changing of the seasons and the vibrancy of the world around him. Typically monochrome, the multicoloured waterfall paintings in this exhibition reflect a new chapter in his oeuvre.
'The world is filled with so many colours and colour is an effect of light reflection—so, in other words, I am painting light,' Senju said.
Sundaram Tagore Gallery is also showing Sohan Qadri: The Seer, featuring Tantric-influenced works on paper by the late Indian yogi and painter. The Seer helped soft-open the London gallery from 21 March, and continues through 20 August.
Sundaram Tagore's new London space is located in the South Kensington art hub of Cromwell Place, which has hosted gallery spaces and exhibitions since opening in 2020.
The gallery will be in good company, neighbouring other international players such as Tiwani Contemporary, Selma Feriani Gallery, and Lehmann Maupin, just a stone's throw away from the Victoria & Albert Museum.
'Although I have deep-rooted ties to London and we have always had a strong client base in the city, there is simply no substitute for having an enduring physical presence,' says founder-director Sundaram Tagore, who studied for his doctorate in nearby Oxford.
'I believe the best way to experience art—particularly the kind of tactile, process-driven art that we show—is to stand in front of it,' he said. 'We couldn't be more delighted to bring Hiroshi Senju and our global group of artists to this dynamic, international city.'
Sundaram Tagore first opened in New York in 2000. Its programme is primarily dedicated to artists who go beyond the Western contemporary canon, especially those incorporating artistic traditions from across Asia and the Middle East.
It represents noted artists such as Anila Quayyum Agha, Robert Yasuda and Chun Kwang Young, as well as celebrated photographers like Lalla Essaydi, Sebastião Salgado, and Steve McCurry.
The gallery has held a space in Singapore since 2012, and previously had locations in Hong Kong and Beverly Hills. Its London outpost is the gallery's first foray in Europe. —[O]
