PCN Art Brut Series No. 20, Artwork Description.

Abstract

Geometric shapes often appear in Sodayu Fukumura's artworks. It is worth noting, however, that those geometric shapes are somewhat irregular and rich in texture, sparing his paintings the impression of cold abstractions. Many of his works remind you of the ground, rather than the landscape (he used to work in the coal mines and is actually good at plowing and making ridges in the fields). The size of this work is relatively large, at 116.6 × 91.0 cm. The artist is good at both small and large works, and even in his large works, he often limits the number of colors and shapes, letting his spontaneity go free, as is the case with this work. The compositional elements seem to be simple, and yet the work is only made possible with a quite delicate sense of balance, as evident in the slight incision at the top of the white shape. Fukumura was born in 1936. He lived at Mizunoki for a long time, a support facility for those with disabilities, in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture. The facility is known to have produced a number of ‘artists’ since it opened a painting class in 1964 with the Japanese painter Chuichi Nishigaki as the instructor. Fukumura has been a member since its founding. There once was a time when the creators were required to complete shaping tests and color composition tasks. In this sense, the work produced at Mizunoki may not exactly qualify as Art Brut, which in principle requires that the artist is self-taught and has developed his or her own methodology. However, it is at least true that Fukumura's work does not find analogues in art history and presents a unique sense of composition that is free from the current trends.