Hiroshi Sato

To young Japanese artist Hiroshi Sato, it’s all about tracing characters’ conscious and subconscious. With the harmonious colours as well as the interplay between elegance and dreaminess, the series Fan Fiction is reminiscent of American painter Edward Hopper. The rooms and figures breathe with the spirit of contemporary and complex perception. Sato’s painterly hand is unmistakable. Although the subjects are turned away from the viewer, the works lead the viewer into a film far beyond the picture’s surface. They feel like a mirror to our consciousness. With their nearly white contours, the geometric shapes and graphical shadows that surround the female figures in Hiroshi Sato’s pictures are reminiscent of the beams of light and colourful shapes in a kaleidoscope.

Sato consciously mixes graphical and symbolic techniques in his works, just like the American artist Chuck Close before him, whom he references in addition to Jan Vermeer, Andrew Wyeth, and Euan Uglow. Sato’s pieces appear incredibly harmonic, even during the dynamic instants they appear to capture, freezing time and movement. They are poetic fractions of a second of a painterly search conducted through colour and illustrative techniques.

By creating miniature models of the rooms on a 1:12 scale, Sato anchors his pictorial narratives in the physical world. Using this real “set”, he develops the process and composition for his works. The artist frequently references popular films because their storylines are widespread narratives akin to the classic myths of previous epochs. In his piece “Scene C” there is a clear reference to the horror genre in the form of a film poster from The Silence of the Lambs, which adds yet another layer of meaning to the piece.

Originally from Japan, Hiroshi Sato studied Fine Art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. His work has featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States.

1987	Born in Japan
	Spent his childhood in Tanzania, age 3 till 14
2005 - 2006	Atlanta College of Art, USA
2008 - 2012	BFA Fine-Arts, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA

Solo Exhibitions

2012	New Works, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, USA

Group Exhibitions

2012	Spring Show Exhibition, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA
	Outliers, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2011	Outliers, San Francisco Design Center, USA
	Small Works, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, USA
	Benefit Silent Auction, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, USA
	Spring Show Exhibition, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA