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Forum > Articles > Contemporary Art Japan > Kunio Kaneko - born 1949

Kunio Kaneko

Red Red Tree, 2000
copyright Kunio Kaneko

One could call Kunio Kaneko the artist of the small format. But he is by no means an artist of small caliber. The student of Joichi Hoshi preferably creates prints in smaller sizes. That explains why he is not as popular outside Japan as in his homeland. For art lovers with a feeling for beauty and quality, Kunio Kaneko is a real find.

Living in Tokyo

Kunio Kaneko was born in Tokyo in 1949. He graduated from Musashino Junior College of Fine Arts. Among his teachers had been Joichi Hoshi and Sasajima Kihei. The artist is a member of Japan Print Association.

Exhibitions

Here is an excerpt of the activities of Kunio Kaneko over the last years.

• 1994 - Chamalieres Trienniale Mondiale d'estampes Petit Format, France.
• 1996 - Exhibition of Modern Japanese Printmakers, New York, Connecticut, U.S.A.
• 1997 - Solo Exhibition, Tokyo / Japan.
• 1997 - Exhibitions of East-West Connections, New York / U.S.A.
• 2001 - Solo Exhibition, Okinawa / Japan.
• 2001 - Solo Exhibition, Tokyo / Japan.
• 2001 - Exhibition of Nine Japanese Printmakers, New York / U.S.A.

Kunio Kaneko

Happy Boy 2, 2004
copyright Kunio Kaneko

It should not remain unmentioned that Kunio Kaneko has exhibited at the CWAJ print shows for meanwhile 18 years. CWAJ stands for College Women Association of Japan. That sounds like a get-together of some Japanese women of higher education who enjoy drinking tea and having an intellectual chat with each other. They may like tea, but that's not what they are best known for. The CWAJ has been founded after world war II as a non-profit organization for cross-cultural exchange and friendship. Meant as a fund-raiser, the CWAJ 50 years ago established an annual print sales show. One of the founders was Oliver Statler, famous book writer and promoter of Japanese postwar printmaking. Today, this annual show at the Tokyo American Club is a major art event in Japan. The importance manifests itself for instance in the fact that the decision, whose artist's printwork will decorate the cover of the catalog, has become a major issue.

Prints by Kunio Kaneko

Kunio Kaneko

Sensu 5, 2001
copyright Kunio Kaneko

The artist works in the traditional Japanese technique of woodblock prints. The usual edition size is from 100 to 200 - signed and numbered. Kaneko's subjects could hardly be more Japanese - kimonos, chop-sticks, trees that remind of those of his master Joichi Hoshi, Japanese sandals, folding fans, masks or depictions of Japan's sacred mountain - Mount Fuji. The images have friendly colors and the artist often chooses words like "lucky" or "happy" for the prints' titles. Kunio Kaneko's woodblock prints spread a friendly and positive atmosphere. That certainly has contributed to the artist's successful career.

The prints are very elaborate and intricate in their making. Often Kunio Kaneko uses metallic colors for the backgrounds. Embossing is another of the lavish techniques used. Nevertheless, prices are very affordable - starting at roughly USD 100. It is astonishing how much you get for your bucks.

Internet shoppers should know that Kaneko's prints are difficult to display in scanned or photographed images. The metallic backgrounds and the embossing do not come out as nicely as they are. In a nutshell, what you will get, is better than what you see.

Search for Kunio Kaneko

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Contemporary Art Japan