Kumi Machida’s ink paintings

17 Feb 2006 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Features, Graphics, Japan

Kumi Machida’s ink paintings

Amongst everything else, Kumi Machida’s ink paintings were what really struck me when spending a few hours at MOT, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo today. This museum is currently hosting two exhibitions until March 26th 2006 and I can recommend them both: the MOT Annual 2006 “No Border” exhibition introducing contemporary Japanese artists with this year’s theme Nihonga - traditional Japanese painting.

Kumi Machida: party night

The other exhibition worth visiting is called Positioning - about the New Reality of European Art from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. That one surprised me with a lot of humor and it’s critical viewpoint about Europe, the capitalist jungle seen from the eyes of “New Europeans”. Interesting!!

But back to our Japanese paintings!

Kumi Machida: Summer Days, eye detail

I was very impressed by the clearness of the lines of Kumi Machida’s paintings. Very carefully and finely drawn and yet in bold contrast between the black ink and the light colored paper.

Kumi Machida: Summer Days

I love her titles, too. This one is called Summer Days and just by knowing that, you realize that it’s an ice cream stick in the kid’s mouth.


Kumi Machida: girl detail

Kumi Machida: girl

This was a drawing revealing how many times she repeats and erases line after line to find the perfect one. Impressive.

Her Japanese motifs and style of painting make you think you went back in time first. Then twisted details of our present time come in and create this feeling of disorder and anxiety.

Kumi Machida: Authority

Her subtle brush lines shown on the works were made by repeating fine lines of ink.

Kumi Machida: It happened just like that, detail

This particular painting has some other, strange haptic areas, too.

Kumi Machida: It happened just like that

Kumi Machida: coming home

Kumi Machida - I thought this one was a bit scary….

This painting on the left, Coming Home is the perfect fusion of this very old style of painting placed in a contemporary, everyday environment.

Kumi Machida - well…..

This last painting is my favorite. Surreal robot-flower-eater….. Congratulations to the artist!

Kumi Machida - this flower eater is my favorite one!

59 Comments

  1. [...] Ping Mag has a great article on artist Kumi Machida’s exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. [...]

    Posted by: Steph Tekano | Steady Vibe Design | Vancouver on February 17th, 2006 at 2:54 am

  2. Such Beautiful artwork! it gives me a very fresh feeling. Fantastic!

    Posted by: Fei on February 17th, 2006 at 1:42 pm

  3. I also warmly recommend these exhibitions. The paintings of Machida are really impressive but you must see them by your eyes to discover all the details. Other japanese artists in the no border exhibition are also really impressive.

    Posted by: benoit on February 17th, 2006 at 2:32 pm

  4. [...] See more at PingMag. [...]

    Posted by: Dasein, Red Elephant. » From Nihonga to Nihonga: Kumi Machida on February 20th, 2006 at 9:10 am

  5. This is a very good show of Asian Style. The soft colours and the images with a full sense of imagination, reality and expressions. So much recommended of course -

    Posted by: Anonymous on February 24th, 2006 at 2:27 am

  6. wow! thats a very unique style! quite like thangka but more graphic and abstract in nature

    Posted by: sameer kulavoor on September 25th, 2006 at 5:00 am

  7. it makes me feel weird.

    Posted by: chocomerry on January 8th, 2007 at 3:54 pm

  8. [...] Kumi Machida [...]

    Posted by: Motomachi Cake 　元町ケーキ » Blog Archive » Warriors of Art on March 17th, 2007 at 1:08 am

  9. love this kind of modern art.

    Posted by: pang chew min on September 24th, 2007 at 2:31 am

  10. [...] style of neo-nihonga… so cool that I lifted it. Ha. That’s cool though. Names like Kumi Machida, Hisashi Tenmyouya, and Fuyuko [...]

    Posted by: Nihonga versus Neo-Nihonga versus YOUR MOM!… SNAP!… at The Misterio Tremendum on October 12th, 2007 at 11:29 am

  11. I met Kumi in denmark in spring this year - That experience is unforgettable - I can’t find any words big enough.. Her art works fascinate me. She’s a woman of few english words but we did understand each other through our art work and how suspicious it may sounds I were deeply moved after the meeting and I believe she was feeling the same. Hopefully Ill get the chance to see her work again soon > strongly recommended

    Posted by: ann mai roge on October 18th, 2007 at 8:17 am

  12. her upcoming exhibition in Hannover 2008
    http://www.kestner.org/de/

    Posted by: Pam on January 21st, 2008 at 10:24 pm

  13. her upcoming exhibition
    http://www.kestner.org/de/

    Posted by: Pam on January 21st, 2008 at 10:27 pm

  14. is it japanese ? i think he or she is japanese

    Posted by: kurye on February 22nd, 2008 at 7:11 am

  15. That child one with his nob out is quite sick, exremely irrelevant and pretty crap aswell, but other then that, good art

    Posted by: Anonymous on March 16th, 2008 at 2:36 am

  16. no….not cool.

    Posted by: mmmmmm on June 7th, 2008 at 7:04 am

  17. i love it

    Posted by: yang j on June 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

  18. great lines

    Posted by: Raghavendra on May 15th, 2009 at 1:06 am

  19. I’m also impressed! But I’m impressed by how stupid and purile this so-called ‘art’ is and how people find anything noteworthy about it. I’m impressed at how shallow some people can be. Example “I was very impressed by the clearness of the lines…” Oh please!!

    Posted by: Boring rubbish on February 18th, 2010 at 5:12 am

  20. When I actually had a chance to see the real painting, I was very surprised. Great artwork! These photos doesn’t do her painting justice. You really have to see some things to understand..

    Posted by: Alex-K on May 6th, 2011 at 4:47 pm

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