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