CV
KAZUHITO MAEKAWA
前川 多仁
Contemporary Craft Artist / Doctor of Arts
Artistic Philosophy & Specialization
- Kazuhito Maekawa is a contemporary craft artist and researcher who advocates and practices "META CRAFTS" — a fusion of Japan's traditional textile techniques with cutting-edge digital technology.
- At the core of his creative practice lies Taro Okamoto's philosophy that "art is sorcery," seeking to reclaim in the digital age the "sacred function" and "spirituality" stripped from craft (KOGEI) since the Meiji period. Through his doctoral thesis, he established the concept of "Shin-Shinbutsu-Shugo" as a contemporary reinterpretation of Japan's syncretic tradition, presenting a unique aesthetic that transcends the paradox between craft's "mass reproducibility" and the digital guarantee of "uniqueness."
Career & Education
- 1974Born in Tanba-Sasayama, Hyōgo, Japan
- 1997B.A., Department of Crafts (Textile Course), Osaka University of Arts
- 2011Ph.D., Graduate School, Osaka University of Arts (Doctor of Arts, advanced entry from undergraduate)
- 2011–2020Part-time Lecturer, Correspondence Education, Osaka University of Arts
- 2014–2019Research Assistant, Institute for Aesthetics of Living, Mukogawa Women's University
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 2024"咆哮 (Howl)", Pakupakuan, Tokyo
- 2020"Shangri-La", Pakupakuan, Tokyo
- 2018"HEAVEN", Gallery Runparunpa, Kanazawa
- 2015"覇王列伝", Art Space 金魚空間, Taipei, Taiwan
- 2011"KITSCH", neutron tokyo, Tokyo
- 2010"KITSCH", neutron kyoto, Kyoto
- 2010"Satoyama Maruyama × KITSCH", Hyōgo
International Exhibitions & Awards
- 2010FROM LAUSANNE TO BEIJING — 6th International Fiber Art Biennale, Zhengzhou, China Excellence Award
- 20104th Riga International Textile and Fiber Art Triennial, Riga, Latvia
- 2008FROM LAUSANNE TO BEIJING — 5th International Fiber Art Biennale, Beijing, China Excellence Award
- 20073rd European Triennial Textile and Fiber Art, Riga, Latvia Special Prize (City of Riga Prize)
- 2006FROM LAUSANNE TO BEIJING — 4th International Fiber Art Biennale, Suzhou, China Excellence Award
- 200725th Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition Excellence Award
Research & Publications
- Doctoral Thesis "Reappraisal of 'Kitsch' in the Present Day" (March 2011)
- Research Note "The Potential of Computer Technology in Textile Craft: On Corporeality in Digital Technology" (Institute for Aesthetics of Living, Mukogawa Women's University, Bulletin No. 28, 2018)
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Conference Presentations
- "Heroes Kitsched into Divinity" (National Museum of Art, Osaka, 2010)
- "Genealogy of Kitsch: From the Perspective of Textile Art Production" (26th Folk Art Society of Japan, Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2010)
- "Kitsch and Craft" (Kyoto Art Center, 2009)
Public Collections
- Benetton Foundation (BENETTON Collection)
- Yabu City, Hyōgo, Japan
Artistic Practice
- Technique:Traditional batik combined with digital pattern design and contemporary dyeing technology.
- Theme:Fabric as "yorishiro" (vessel for the divine), expressing the magical dimension latent in contemporary secular phenomena (fan culture, club culture) through intense color and geometric composition.
- Digitally perfected forms are sublimated through the analog process of dye infusion, yielding works of unpredictable, irreducible uniqueness.
