Susumu Kamijo Biography

Early Life and Career

Born in Nagano, Japan, Susumu Kamijo moved to the United States at the age of 16. He studied Painting and Drawing at the University of Oregon and graduated with a BFA in 2000. He then completed an MFA at University of Washington in Seattle, where he met contemporary artist Jonas Wood.

Poodle Obsession

In 2014, Kamijo began making his colourful Pop-esque series of poodle drawings. Inspiration for this career-defining canine obsession began while helping his partner Marta, a dog groomer, at work. Kamijo explains, 'I just noticed their forms, and they looked good!'

Intricacies of form, shape, colour, and line, as well as a fascination with the technical aspects of art-making, are at the core of Kamijo's poodle portraits. Working first with oil pastels and pencil, Kamijo quickly added vinyl and oil paint to his repertoire.

Kamijo's dogs are a composite of isolated shapes and blocks of colour, with a hard-edged style influenced by Japanese woodblock printing. In works such as Summer Wind (2018) and Sunbathing on the Hill (2018), this technique translates to highly-stylised figurative representations. In more recent works, such as Supper Time (2020) and Good to See You Again (2021), this has evolved into a more abstract collection of forms.

Executed with technical finesse, Kamijo's works are very painterly. A sense of varying textures is created through cross-hatching, repeated patterns, and the layering of paint. This highly technical formal approach is balanced with the humour and light-heartedness of the subject.

Despite the highly stylised and abstracted approach to form, each portrait gives a sense of the individual personality, mood, and environment of each poodle sitter. Susumu Kamijo Poodles book, published by Pacific in 2017, reads like a visual equivalent of T.S. Elliot's Cats poems. Each poodle represented presents a different character: from the dutiful poodle that stands on guard in Night Poodle on the Farm (2017) to the voluminous pooch that lies comfortably and confidently in The Champion (2017).

This expression of personality carries through in later works. While highly abstracted, the angled teeth, full-frontal posture, and fixed stare from one eye, along with the title, of Come a Little Closer (2021) are enough to evoke a sense of viciousness waiting to be unleashed. Simple minimalist backgrounds, such as the planes of green, blue, and white, and the pink circle in Howling by the Sea (2018), are sufficient to create the impression of an environment.

Sculpture

In 2021 Susumu Kamijo branched out into sculpture. Created in collaboration with Avant Arte, The Sinner at Dusk (2021) translates the nonchalant glamour of his poodle drawings to a three-dimensional form. Made from walnut wood, with oil paint demarcating facial features, the work loosely references the dignified subject in the drawing When She Returned (2020).

Exhibitions

Susumu Kamijo's solo exhibitions include Beyond The Hills, MAKI Gallery (FKA Sakurado Fine Arts), Tokyo (2021); Lick Me Till Dawn, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York (2020); I'll Follow You To The Sunset, GNYP Gallery, Berlin (2019); Walk With Me To The Sea, MAKI Gallery,Tokyo (2018); Poodles, Sotheby's S|2 Gallery, New York (2017); and I Think So, Marvin Gardens, New York (2016).

Kamijo's group exhibitions include Stockholm Sessions, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm (2021); 36 Paintings, Harper's Books, New York (2020); The Beverly Hills Hotel Pop Up, Harper's Books, Los Angeles (2018); GERANIUM, Stems Gallery, Brussels (2017); and I've Been Meaning to Sue for Something, Marvin Gardens, New York (2016).

Susumu Kamijo's Instagram can be found here.

Michael Irwin | Ocula | 2021