Shun Sudo (b. 1977)
CELEBRITY
2016
Acrylic on canvas
31 1/2 x 39 in. (80 x 100 cm)

Shun Sudo (b. 1977) is a cutting-edge artist based in Tokyo. Deeply influenced by American pop culture from a young age, Sudo spent his 20s travelling around the United States. When he returned home to Japan in his early 30s, he began working on paintings that reference his creative roots both in Japanese culture and the contemporary street culture of Western life. As a result, Sudo developed two artistic styles that reflect the two different aspects of his personality. His primary aim is to capture his subject matter in a few stylized brushstrokes—otherwise known as Japanese sumi-e brush stroke painting. He then paints over that image with graffiti pop art which makes for a graphically-animated impression that awakens the eyes, mind, and spirit.

In his current series “Paint Over,” which contains allusions to iconic brands such as Chanel and Nike alongside pop art imagery, Sudo gestures to decades of commercial and counterculture forces. He presents portrait images that feature famous icons in Western culture such as Andy Warhol and John Lennon, but reinterprets the familiar through an original colorful lens. By painting over globally-recognized icons with his own favorite images, such as flowers and hearts, Sudo incorporates his individual worldview into a greater tradition, making viewers re-conceptualize what they already know.

Below are more selections from Onishi Gallery's Asia Week New York Contemporary exhibition, Playful Perfection: The Artist’s Imaginary Universe, on view at 521 West 26th Street, from May 2 to 10:

Tomoko Konno (b. 1967)
Creature
2010
Stoneware with nerikomi
h. 21 5/8 x w. 20 1/2 x d. 10 5/8 in. (55 x 52 27 cm)

ITO Sekisui V (b. 1941), Living National Treasure
Sado Island Square Jar
2016
Stoneware
h. 8 5/8 x w. 12 5/8 x d. 9 1/2 in. (22 x 32 x 24 cm)

NAOYA (b. 1958)
PEPO #1.2.1.
2014
FRP
h. 33 x w. 17 1/2 x d. 16 3/4 in. (83.6 x 44.2 x 42 cm)