La Galerie de Ken Wada 2

April 1, 2016
Agora Gallery, 530 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001

Ken Wada creates ink works that incorporate a full range of free- flowing painting techniques. An accomplished painter who often works in watercolor and gouache as well, Wada is interested in using the traditional medium of ink in innovative ways. He painted much of his recent work with raw tree limbs taken straight from his own garden. The work itself experiments with graphic simplification that is rarely part of the Japanese drawing aesthetic.

Wada’s pieces are abstracts that depend on both spontaneity and control. The brushstrokes are quick, repeated, and easy, while the overall layout keeps them contained. The marks are alternately flattened and heightened to create tension. The composition is pared down but explores repetition and proportion in sophisticated ways. Pieces often only contain the stark contrasting tones of black and white, which interplay in ever more intricate designs.

Wada was born in Matudo, Japan, currently lives in Tokyo, and maintains a studio in Kitakaruizawa, Japan. He has exhibited in England, Japan, and extensively in France, where he lived for several years.

June 9, 2017
ニューヨークのイベント情報誌「よみタイム」Vol.303 p.18
https://www.yomitime.com/digital/303/mobile/index.html#p=20

December 19, 2017
Agora Gallery’s Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AgoraGalleryNY/photos/a.97741072335.93303.46350942335/10155211619232336/?type=3

Tokyo based artist Ken Wada creates bold, abstract drawings that combine traditions of ink painting and calligraphy with automatic drawing. While the artist invokes historic Eastern tradition, his mark making is entirely contemporary—his quick, broken lines, stippled dots, and springing swirls are layered obsessively to lend a sense of chaos to his compositions. Painted in stark monochrome, Wada’s works feel simultaneously spontaneous and tightly controlled.

April 2018
ArtTour International Magazine 2018 Spring Issue selected and featured WADA’s artworks as “TOP 10 Artists”. p.112,113,114

April 13, 2018
ニューヨークのイベント情報誌「よみタイム」Vol.323 p.16
https://www.yomitime.com/event_041318/1602.html

July 2018
International Contemporary Artists Catalog 2018 Vol.1 featured WADA’s four artworks. p.46,47

August 2018
Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, 531 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001

KEN WADA
“INNER VISIONS-OUTER REALITIES”
AUGUST 28-SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

Piet Mondrian stated, “It is possible that, throughout horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as it is true.” Like Mondrian, contemporary Japanese artist Ken Wada discovers the purity of line and form as he paints layered patterns onto his canvases. Fusing cyclical brushwork which dances in harmony, Mr. Wada creates dimensional patterns that rein in arresting hues of red and white. In his latest “White and Red” painting series, Mr. Wada explores different weight of lines and intensity of pigment throughout his patterned compositions. Drawing inspiration from his childhood calligraphy practices, Mr. Wada intensifies the spontaneous, yet controlled, compositions of his series through loose brushstrokes, variant hues of red, and repetition of form that lends a sense of dynamism to his paintings. Strong forms and the vibrancy of the red compel the viewer into the highest echelons of inspiration and stimulation. Intentionally dripping paint from his brush application contributes additional texture, while visually elongating each canvas. Layering red and white paint, Mr. Wada adds visual depth and establishes a profound complexity within the seemingly simple pattern. Packed full of emotion and personal experience, each work is an intricate web of anecdotes or observations that are expressed vividly with turbulent swaths of paint. This inscribed and abstracted interpretation of language generates a dimensional relief, resulting in a distinct imprint of place, time and experience. Achieving both subtle and dramatic contrast with his use of only two pigments, Mr. Wada’s expressive execution perfectly marries painterly abstraction with linguistic brushwork. The viewer is enticed by the varied surface patterns, which invite the viewer to become an active participant. Compiled together, his visual syntax challenges the viewer to evaluate our world. Mr. Wada’s series conveys action, serenity, and passion, causing a total spiritual awakening in the observer while encompassing the entire capacity of human sensibilities. Lyrical and rhythmic, Mr. Wada intensifies the spontaneous, yet controlled composition of his “White and Red” series through unexpected texture and layering.
Born in Matudo, Japan, award-winning Mr. Wada currently lives and works in Tokyo. Exhibiting extensively throughout England, Japan, Europe, and the United States, Mr. Ken Wada is of international recognition and is featured in both public and private collections.