Hideki Iinuma

Hideki Iinuma was born in Matsumoto in 1975. During his academic years, he moved to Tokyo and Nagoya. In 2002, he went to France for further studies and later held exhibitions in countries such as Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. His artistic creative abilities gained international recognition in Europe even before Japan.

This contemporary artist sculpts female figures based on models adorned in elaborate attire and tailored designs. The women are acutely aware of others' gazes but aspire to maintain a distinctive personal style. We can catch glimpses of their determination, complexity, and noble aspiration for freedom. Iinuma's bold and distinctive artistic creations have garnered attention at international exhibitions, and he remains active in the international art scene to this day.

The following is written by Hideki Iinuma in 2016:

Cumulonimbus

Seeing the summer cumulo nimbus brought back the memory. In my first year of high school. painting Hachibuse in oil from the viewing platform in Joyama park, I had no idea that this high school student who spent all his time playing tennis would become an artist.

It's true that when I was five years old, and my father, a conductor for Japan Rail, showed me a catalogue from the Picasso exhibition at Shinjuku Isetan Museum, I started talking about my dream of being a painter. Those pictures from a far-off Spanish painter reached this little boy in Matsumoto. From that early age my imagination and curiosity for what lay beyond these mountains that surround us on all sides started to grow. I could not talk to these people who lived over the mountains and over the seas, but it was possible to communicate by painting pictures. How could such an amazing thing happen?

During the winter vacation of my second year at university. I travelled to Europe with a friend from my days at Arigasaki High School. Of course I fell in love with Paris, not just the beautiful streets but also the refined culture of the Parisians, and I decided to continue with art.

I wanted to take what I had learnt in Japan and try to apply it in Europe. I wanted to start a conversation with a lot of different people through the works I made. I had studied wood carving in Japan. but that was not usually considered to be art. I learnt in Europe that art becomes art when it connects with different people and different societies.

And there are other things I realised. Everyone loves their own country. Art rooted in one country leaves the hands of the artist and travels the world to the children of other countries. With this in mind I decided to return to Japan.

After I came back to Japan it was difficult to find opportunities to show my work. This exhibition at Matsumoto City Museum of Art has only been possible with the help of many people. I'm still dreaming of a day when my art will reach the children of the world.

Summer, 2016

Hideki linuma