LOST DAYS AND GIRLS IN REVOLT by Junko Shimizu October 22, 2010

graphite. is pleased to announce “Lost Days and Girls in Revolt”, a new series of paintings and drawings by Junko Shimizu.

In this exhibition, Shimizu includes a collection of essential drawings and paintings that mirror her childhood, accumulating rebellious spirit, and self-revelation. As an artist, Shimizu catches herself witnessing the fundamental differences in standards that belong to the generation before and after her. Situated somewhere between illustration and portraiture, Shimizu’s characters are staged in the most simple and modest situations of Japanese children’s play, vividly colored but subtly portrayed. Deceptively naïve, Shimizu’s art is a quiet but potent reflection of a coming-of-age discovery.

Junko Shimizu is a contemporary artist born and raised in Japan. From the age of 3 to 5, her family lived in Honduras, where Shimizu spent her childhood years among people of different ethnicities. Influenced by her grandmother, also an artist, Shimizu was no stranger to painting and started drawing at an early age. She moved to New York City at age 19 to study at the School of Visual Arts. After graduating in 2003, she became paint assistant to pop artist Takashi Murakami, and moved on to exhibit a series of her art at galleries in Chelsea, New York City, and several group exhibitions in California. Shimizu claims that her art is inspired by Ukiyo-e (Japanese paintings produced between 17th-20th centuries), particularly brocade pictures by Harunobu Suzuki, and Japanese literature, notably those of Yasunari Kawabata.

Official Website: http://www.graphiteny.com/wordpress/?p=156