Michihiro Kosuge
Michihiro Kosuge presents Memory, a recent body of paintings on panel. Painting has long been a practice that Kosuge pursues in tandem with the stone sculpture for which he is best known. During the cold winter months, when working outdoors with stone is more difficult, Kosuge spends time indoors with paint and brush utilizing rich color and his interest in shape and spatial relationships to juxtapose forms in two-dimensional space. This series includes images that suggest familiar organic forms, presented in pared down, sometimes surreal ways. The work also implies growth or transformation, echoing themes of life’s changes, which informed the memories of the show’s title.
Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, Michihiro Kosuge first studied architecture at the Tokyo Sumida Technical School of Architecture and then went on to receive his MFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1970. He began teaching art at Portland State University in 1978, becoming a full professor in 1989, and after serving three years as the Chair of the Art Department, retired in 2003. Exhibitions of his work include the Oakland Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Seattle Art Museum. Major commissions include a 5-piece commission for the Portland TriMet Transit Mall; Highline Community College, Des Moines, WA; the River Point Education Center, Spokane, WA; Kaiser Permanente Foundation, Vancouver, WA; the Little Tokyo Mall, Los Angeles, CA; Portland Community College, Sylvania Campus, OR; and the Washington County Justice Center, Hillsboro, OR.
It's rare to find an artist who's equally good at two different mediums.
Michihiro Kosuge's serene, exquisite paintings at the Laura Russo Gallery remind us there is more to this artist than being one of the finest Northwest sculptors of his generation. He's a pretty good painter, too.