Keitoku TOIZUMI

Tender Heart

2023

H98.6 × W98.6 × D4.5 cm

gallery UG

Detail
SECTION:
Galleries
BOOTH:
W13

Artist Profile

2004 Graduated Tokyo Zokei University, Department of Fine Art A fantasy world depicted in realistic detail. Toys, figurines, and game characters. As if to connect them all, pink army figurines appear in Toizumi’s paintings. It was about 10 years ago that he first painted the pink army figurines. Early in his career, he spoke out strongly against war through the pink army figurines, but gradually, with its toy companions, they changed their role to that of a storyteller. The main motifs of Toizumi's paintings are tin toys and the NES ("Nintendo Entertainment System") and robots he used to play with. While placing them on the tabletop, he imagines stories and draws the fantasies he has been circulating since childhood. The pink army figurines, which appear as if to connect each character and historical background, have now become an icon of Toizumi's artwork. For the past several years, Toizumi has also been using the effect of reflection. By depicting the real and imaginary worlds on a single screen, he brings conflicting events to light. While focusing on texture, he incorporates a message for modern society behind the imaginative story. Just as the medieval masters of realism once put their prayers into the glow of their motifs, Toizumi himself puts modern hope into his motifs, and the glow of his motifs expands the world of his work.

gallery UG

Detail
SECTION:
Galleries
BOOTH:
W13