Itagaki Hohzan

Since 2000, Itagaki has exclusively painted portraits of the same woman. Although Itagaki’s subject passed away in the 1990s while in her late twenties, he only began painting her in the 2000s, drawing on the latent images that lingered deep within his awareness. The paintings have the air of an epiphany or an act of self-salvation. Itagaki not only depicts his subject in her twenties, as the artist knew her in life, but also as he never knew her, in her childhood and middle years. They form a kind of dialogue between the artist and the ghost of the woman who inspired them. The exhibition features works that offer a glimpse into the artist’s process, portraits of the woman in multiple parts, and a selection of pieces intended as posthumous work. Representative works, such as his depiction of the woman trapped in a forest and as a sleeping girl, take center stage. Itagaki describes the paintings as expressions of love and contrition.

プロフィール

b. 1953 in Yamagata Prefecture. After graduating from Yamagata East High School in 1973, Itagaki spent three years studying oil painting at a preparatory school for art. He held multiple exhibitions in the 1980s. Since the 2000s, Itagaki has focused on painting portraits in oil on canvas.

[On exhibit] “Sleeping Beauty,” 2018, oil painting.

[On exhibit] “She Is Here,” 2014, oil painting.

[On exhibit] “I’ve Wanted to See You Again,” 2016, oil painting.

[On exhibit] “She Is Here,” 2014, oil painting.

[On exhibit] “I’ve Wanted to See You Again,” 2016, oil painting.