Sudo, Masato (1955 - Present)
Masato Sudo is a contemporary photographer. As an art student, Sudo concentrated his photographic work on long haul trucks lavishly decorated by their drivers. While working on one of these studies, Sudo encountered a driver with designs on his body that outdid those of his truck. Enamored by such individualized bodily expression, Sudo built his career as a contemporary photographer capturing the beauty of the Japanese tattoo and its dynamic human canvas. In 1985, Sudo released Ransho: Japanese Tattooing, a one hundred-and-forty-three page photographic exploration of tebori, or hand tattooing, done by Horiyoshi III, Horijin and Horikin. In 2010, his work was featured in the exhibition Seeing Beauty at Balboa Park’s Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego and can be found in collections worldwide, including the Muscarelle Museum and the Morikami Museum of Art.
Combining large format photography with the cutting edge archival fresco pigment printing process, Masato Sudo generates not only stunning, but also long lasting studies of the inked form. Originating in Japan, this new printing technology draws upon ancient innovation to create contemporary photographic images that are heat, light and moisture resistant. Just as traditional fresco technique preserves Michelangelo’s pigments in Sistine Chapel, the archival fresco pigment printing process captures Sudo’s photographs within a soft layer of plaster, guarding his photographs for centuries to come.
Note: The archival fresco pigment printing process is termed Fresco Giclee and was developed by the FL Tokuyama Corporation. http://www.fresco-g.com/english/
Contemporary Japanese and East Asian Art
Ronin Gallery’s Contemporary art collection challenges the boundaries of tradition and innovation through the work of Japan's greatest contemporary artists and tomorrow’s most promising talents. Featured in museum exhibitions worldwide, contemporary Japanese and East Asian artists are pushing limits and exploring fresh techniques across mediums and styles. For many of the contemporary artists in this collection, inspiration sparks from an interweaving of old with new. Many combine traditional themes, tools, or materials with technology, contemporary themes, or innovative techniques. This hybrid expression is distinctly contemporary and unremittingly vital. From the Pop art legacy of the Shinohara’s to the foremost master of Japanese tattooing, Horiyoshi III, this collection of contemporary Japanese and East Asian art spans a wide range of media, including woodblock prints, screen prints, photography, etchings, paintings, sculpture, calligraphy, ceramics, and mixed media artworks.
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