Shin'ya Sakurai Text

In 2020, I experienced a two-month lockdown in Turin, Italy, due to the impact of Covid (coronavirus). It was difficult to focus on creating artwork, and I found myself questioning the very act of making art.

During that time, while grappling with my creative process, I decided to create works themed around hope and prayer for when the harsh conditions would end. I began to create pieces with strong, clear messages by using icons, an important theme in my previous works, in a more explicit way.

To emphasize icons as symbols, I started creating artworks in two-tone colors instead of using multiple colors. The paintings expressed with limited colors and icons aimed for a simpler expression, evoking a wide range of emotions, memories, and images from the symbols for viewers, rather than just the information obtained from the surface of the paintings.

By repeatedly layering and painting over icons such as crosses and stars, and then rubbing the same color of paint over them as if scraping away the surface, the traces left behind became symbols of hope and prayer after experiencing hardships. The new series "Symbol," born from this unprecedented experience, has brought out a new aspect in my work.

Shinya Sakurai

1981 Born in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
2004 Graduated from Art Planning Department, Osaka University of Arts, Japan
2004 Entered Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti di Torino, Italy
Lives and works in Turin

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2003 "SHINYA SAKURAI SOLO EXHIBITON" The Museum Of Arts & Crafts, Itami / Itami, Japa
2004 "SHINYA SAKURAI SOLO EXHIBITON" SHIBUYA MuseumOf ART / Fukuyama, Japan
2005 "NEW TYPE" Consolato dell'Giappone / Milan, Italy
2006 "LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL" Gallery CATARTICA / Turin, Italy
2007 "LOVE from HIROSHIMA" Galleria Arte Giovane / Asti, Italy
2008 "LOVE COMUNICATION" Accademia Delle Belle Arti Macerata / Macerata, Italy
2008 "POSITIVE HAPPY LOVE" Galerie Paris/ Yokohama, Japan
2009 "INTELLIGENCE SURFACE" CRAC / Cremona, Italy
2010 "ONE" Artmark Gallery / Viena, Austria
2010 "Cuore" Giorgio Marosi Gallery / Turin, Italy
2010 "LOVE SONG" Galerie Paris / Yokohama, Japan
2011 "FLY The FLAG" The White Gallery / Milan, Italy
2012 "Shinya Sakurai2007-2012" Palazzo Mistrot / Turin, Italy
2012 "LOVE POOL" Galleria Albanese Arte / Matera, Italy
2012 "LOVE POOL" Galerie Paris / Yokohama, Japan
2013 "UNITED COLORS" Base Gallery / Tokyo, Japan
2013 "LOVE POOL" Maeda Hiromi Art Gallery / Kyoto, Japan
2013 "LOVE POOL" YAMAKI Fine Art Gallery / Kobe, Japan
2014 "Atomic Heart" Maria Cilena Gallery / Milano, Italy
2014 "My Favorite Colors" Galerie Paris / Yokohama, Japan
2014 "My Favorite Colors" HEIS Gallery / Fukuoka, Japan
2015 "UNITED COLORS" Maeda Hiromi Art Gallery / Kyoto, Japan
2015 "e intanto fioriscono i ciliegi" Eidos Immagini Contemporanee / Asti, Italy
2015 "My Favorite Colors" HEIS Gallery / Fukuoka, Japan
2015 "United Colors" ART LAND Gallery / Marugame, Japan
2016 "United Colors" Galerie Paris / Yokohama, Japan
2016 "COLORS" CONTEMPORARY HEIS ART / Tokyo, Japan
2017 "Unite Colors" Galerie Lattemann / Darmstadt, Germany
2017 "WAKE UP THE COLOR" Maeda Hiromi Art Gallery / Kyoto, Japan
2017 "Azzuri" ART LAND Gallery / Marugame, Japan
2017 "My Favorite Colors" Fondazione San Domenico / Crema, Italy
2018 "My Favorite Colors" CARUSO GALLERY/ Messina, Italy
2018 "Colors" Galerie Paris / Yokohama, Japan
2018 "Delicious Colors" CONTEMPORARY HEIS ART / Tokyo, Japan
2019 "Delicious Colors” Galleria Il Castello / Milano,Italy
2019 "Delicious Colors" Maeda Hiromi Art Gallery / Kyoto, Japan
2019 "Delicious Colors" ART LAND Gallery / Marugame, Japan
2019 "Delicious Colors" Kaki Gallery / Toyama, Japan
2020 "Delicious Colors" Galerie Paris / Yokohama, Japan
2020 "Symbol" CONTEMPORARY HEIS ART / Tokyo, Japan

Awards
2003 President of Japan Mint Award in Osaka Arts and Crafts Exhibition
2003, ATC Design Museum, Osaka
2004 President of NHK Broadcasting Centre Award in Osaka Arts and Crafts Exhibition 2004, ATC Design Museum, Osaka
2005 Merit Award in International Young Men Fine Arts Conpetition, Carosso City Exhibition Hall, Carosso, Italy
2006 Finalista, Matteo Olibero Conpetition, / Matteo Olivero Competition, / Amulet Beltoni Foundation, Salzzo
2006 Premio, /Borgo Piazza Painting Competition, Oratory of Gonfalone, Fossano
2008 Finalista in Roma International Youth Art Competition, Roma Federal Office for Culture, Roma

Collection
Roberto Bilotti Museum of Contemporary Art, Rende, Italy
Artists Society in Turin, Turin, Italy
The City Hall of Castorano, Italy
Rest Villa Hiroshima Hikarigaoka, Hiroshima
ACCADEMIA DI BELLE ARTI di MACERATA, Macerata, Italy
Cremona Contemporary Art Centre, Cremona, Italy