Exhibition Overview
Toyo Tsuchiya, who is best known for his photographs of NY’s East Village Art scene in the 1980’s, turned to snapshots that would reveal more intimate and private images of family groups, friends and neighbors, in his search to find human connection and his own identity.
In this show at Resobox, Toyo challenged himself to create a new way of drawing, using as subjects the people in his past photographs, and people found in images from newspapers, magazines and master American photographers. He selected children, young friends, homeless people, immigrant workers and nudes for his charcoal drawings. His subjects are larger than life. Through his eye and hand, together with his memories, his subjects appear on the paper before us in a new and powerful existence.
Opening Party
About the Artist
Toyo Tsuchiya
Toyo was born February 12, 1948 near Mt. Fuji in Japan, and grew up in Kyushu and Yokohama. After graduating from the Kanagawa Ken Technical High School for Industrial Design, he began his career as an artist. Living in Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo, Toyo studied and exhibited paintings, drawings and collage within a small circle of the 1970’s art world in Tokyo. In the late 70’s he turned to photography, and soon moved to New York City. Living in NY’s Lower East Side since 1980, Toyo photographed what was happening around him, the people, performance art, and the East Village art scene, especially the legendary underground art movement of No Se No and the Rivington School. He created mural-style photo installations which were exhibited in New York and Japan since 1983. Toyo also curated art shows of Rivington School and young artists for over two decades.
