Fujita Osamu Exhibition

April 8 - April 30, 2023

Wednesday-Sunday: 11:00-17:00
Last day of exhibition: 11:00-16:00

Closed: Mondays, Tuesdays

Artist in the gallery: Saturday, April 8th and Sunday, April 9th

Fujita Osamu Exhibition Press Release

Artland Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of Fujita Osamu, who creates monotone prints using a photopolymer gravure, a process of photoengraving, from April 8 to 30. Fujita is based in Yokohama.

Fujita cuts out scenes from everyday life through the lens of his camera and creates monotone prints using the photopolymer printmaking technique called photopolymer gravure. The subjects to which he turns his lens are people, urban and natural landscapes, and other commonplace scenes of daily life, but he seems to be trying to capture the shadows of unmarked landscapes that do not evoke specific images or impressions, universal objects, so to speak. These shadows are further reduced to monotone and given vague outlines in the process of printmaking, evoking memories that everyone has seen somewhere before.

Although Fujita studied oil painting after graduating from university, in recent years he has been making extensive use of the photopolymer-gravure technique. This technique is an intaglio print produced with a photosensitive resin plate using ultraviolet light and water. "What is very different from photography is the materialization of the image, as if ink rises on paper," as the artist himself describes it.
Through such production activities, Fujita received the Bridgestone Museum of Art Prize at the 18th Japan International Art Exhibition in 1990, the Museum of Modern Art Kanagawa Prize at the 30th Kanagawa Art Exhibition in 1994, and the Yokohama Museum of Art Prize at the 24th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan in 1995, among other awards.

Fujita's first solo exhibition at the gallery was in 2015, and for his first solo show in eight years, he will exhibit a total of 40 prints, including his new photopolymer-gravure print book "WATER" and a new monotype print inspired by the image of flowing water. About the "WATER" prints, Fujita writes, "I stand on a beach called Hashirimizu in Yokosuka... The water of this sea is connected to the whole world... Seven water-related landscapes cut out at random.
We hope that many people will visit the exhibition.

Fujita Osamu Text WATER

Standing on the beach called Hashirimizu in Yokosuka
I can see an uninhabited island (Sarushima) in Tokyo Bay.
Sometimes I look at this sea and feel absentminded.
On a typical afternoon of a typical day
I had a common thought that the water of this sea is connected to
the whole world. And the fountain in that park in Ueno
Or the northern sea seen from the top of the hill where Our Lady of
Rudolf stands in Hakodate
Or the calm waters of my favorite river, the Seine.
Even the water of the Thames flowing in front of the Tate Modern
Even the waters of the Arno, where the Ponte Vecchio Bridge hangs.
Even the rain that moistens the Boulogne forest
The common thought that they are all connected to one another.
Seven water-related landscapes cut out at random
I added a letterpress title page
I put them together as a collection of prints.
The title is "WATER".
I made a black box for the book and quietly stored it in it.

In addition, three new photopolymer gravure prints, 12 new monotype
prints with the image of flowing water, and 18 photopolymer gravure
prints will be exhibited. Please come and see them.


-Photopolymer Gravure is an intaglio print using a photosensitive resin plate. The format of the photosensitive resin plate is the same as that of copperplate engraving, but the production process is completely different. Basically, it is created using ultraviolet light and water, and no harmful solvents are used. At first glance, it may appear to be an exact replica of a photograph, but the major difference is the materialization of the image. The prints are made with etching presses using copperplate printing ink. The finished product is attractive because of the materialization of the image, as if the ink is standing up on the paper.