Working in acrylic on canvas or paper, Tomokazu Matsuyama makes paintings that possess great charm and vivacity, a result of the artist’s sensitivity to his cultural roots combined with a distinctive contemporary playfulness.
Born in Japan and later immigrating to the United States, Matsuyama’s bicultural upbringing spurred a questioning of national and individual identity, which today figures prominently in the style and subject matter of his paintings. Matsuyama embraces and updates the shifting, transformative aspect of the creature through his kaleidoscopic abstractions, simple figures, and faux naïf compositions.
Tomokazu Matsuyama was born 1976 in Tokyo, Japan, and currently lives and works in New York City. He received an MFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He Has exhibited works in galleries, institutions, and artfairs such as San Fransisco Musuem of Modern Art, Portsmouth Museum of Arts, Tufts University Museum, Frey Norris Gallery, Mizuma Art Gallery, Joshua Liner Gallery, Haunch of Venison Gallery, Upper Playground Gallery, Pulse Artfair, Art Hong Kong, Art Dubai, Art Miami and among many other.