Description
Shiro Ikegawa (1933-2009) studied art and oil painting in Japan at the Tokyo University of Arts. He moved to Los Angeles in 1956 where he attended Otis Art Institute, earning an M.F.A. in 1961. Ikegawa became well known for a highly embossed printing technique that he developed. This sculptural effect on 2-D surfaces has carried through into this vibrant painting on portions of the abstracted red tree bark. Though Ikegawa was an accomplished painter, he turned the majority of his attention toward printmaking during his career, so his large paintings of this caliber are quite rare.
Ikegawa was represented by the prestigious Martha Jackson Gallery in New York. He had prints commissioned by James B. Lancer Corp.; Martha Jackson; 2 editions for the L.A. County Museum (LACMA) Graphic Arts Council; Nomura Display in Tokyo; the Los Angeles Times and many others. His work has been included in dozens of exhibitions and held in collections throughout the country including the Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum, National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, L.A. County Museum of Art (LACMA), Crocker Art Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. He was Assistant Professor of art at Pasadena City College (1961-1967) and Cal State University, L.A. (’67-’76) and also taught at Otis Art Institute, Chouinard Art School, California State University, San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Vancouver School of Art and Parsons School of Design, among others.
Ikegawa’s work won many awards including: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Printmaking in 1974 and Conceptual & Performance Art in 1981, and two Ford Foundation grants in 1977 and 1980.