Shun Sudo “Innocent Forest”

Onishi Gallery

[Image: Shun Sudo "MINDSCAPE" (2018) acrylic on canvas; h. 36 x w. 36 in.]

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Onishi Gallery present Innocent Forest, a stunning solo exhibition of pop paintings by artist Shun Sudo. Vividly depicting the fantastical animals and plants of an imaginary realm, Sudo creates images that explode off the canvas, reaching out to the viewer from an alternate reality of color and possibility.

Based in Tokyo, Japan, Sudo has been deeply influenced by American pop culture throughout his career. After travels across the United States in his 20s, he returned to Japan in his 30s to begin work on paintings that allude to both his creative roots in traditional Japanese culture and contemporary street cultures of Western societies. Integrating both of these influences into his aesthetic sensibilities, Sudo created classic Japanese sumi-e brush stroke paintings covered by graffiti pop art to produce innovatively animated artwork that awakens the eye, mind, and spirit.

In the series featured in this exhibition, Innocent Forest, Sudo references specific inspiration sources: Ito Jakuchu, a famous Japanese painter of the 18th century, and Akira Toriyama, a contemporary popular Japanese animation artist. Jakuchu illustrated scenes with imaginary birds, animals, flower and plants, merging this world with make-believe through bright colors and modern design. Toriyama draws influences from Disney animation to Chinese novels to Jackie Chan films, creating cartoonish characters, animals, and deities. Sudo’s current series pays particular homage to Jakuchu’s rooster and Toriyama’s animation worlds.

Visit the Innocent Forest and you encounter a bright yellow rabbit covered with black vegetal designs and a pointed tail, a proud rooster figure wearing royal red booties and a decorative cape, puffed up petals jumping out from their flower centers, dripping ice cream cones and stuffed hamburgers floating off the corners of pages, and birds in flight, flowers, trees, and majestic mountains filling the backgrounds of these fantastical worlds. With spirited strokes and dynamic characters, Sudo guides you through his imaginary kingdom, parallel to our own reality, connecting both through tradition, passion, and creativity.