Artists

Ryuma IMAI

Ryuma IMAI, born in Tokyo in 1976, was brought up with his father, a painter - Toshimitsu IMAI 今井俊満 (1928-2002) and learned by father’s original education about art and art history, and also learned drawings in Academia de la Grande Chaumière in 1995 while his father was making his artworks in Paris. After that, he started his artist carrier from 2008.

The originality of Ryuma IMAI’s artwork is that animals and persons portrayed by him with enamel and acrylic paint are full of life, which represents their innate vitality.

IMAI, without any hesitation, places lines to display the moments animals start moving or the moments they stop and add animal instincts to their eyes. In his works depicting humans, he also places lines to displays complex emotions embedded in humans and expressions of instants difficult to describe in words. The combination of his enamel contours and unique coloration leave strong impressions to the minds of those who encounter any of his artworks.

Actually, IMAI does not “draw” lines with enamel; in fact, he pours paint onto base materials such as canvases and paper without looking at the sketches or making a rough draft. Therefore, he creates animals and humans from his accumulated memories while accepting the unpredictable, uncontrollable flows and widths of his curves.

Everyone goes on with their daily lives or their lifetime by accepting the unpredictable and the absurdities of life. Likewise, IMAI conducts his life and produces works by positively and open-mindedly responding to such irrationalities.

Text by Masaru Nishiyama (Director of H-art Beat Gallery)
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