MASSA KINOSHITA

Masao Kinoshita was born in Nagano in 1971. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture, Tokyo Zokei University. Kinoshita employs an artisan spirit to create scriptures of imaginary animals with human-like bodies. Based on clay prototypes, he makes molds for his sculptures out of FRP. He uses a chisel to refine the details. The sculpture is delicately finished with watercolors and colored pencils in order to convey the physicality of the muscles. Kinoshita’s solid craftsmanship and expressiveness have been highly praised by many, including the famous toy collector Teruhisa Kitahara. In 2003 he was the gold medalist of the Geisai Museum organized by Takashi Murakami. The award jurors were Fumio Nanjo (director of Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hill and curator of international art), Toshiko Okamoto (former director of Tara Okamoto Memorial Museum), Eriko Ousaka (former artistic director of Art Tower Mito, Contemporary Art Center) and Yutaka Mino (chief executive director of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa), Teruhisa Kitahara.