KENJI HIRATA is a core member of the Barnstormers, a highly celebrated Tokyo-New York-based artist collective. In his paintings, Kenji incorporates water, fire, metal, wood and soil—fusing a complex narrative out of the five elements. He moves confidently between compositions of layered density and vast areas of open fields and clean forms. In his own words, his work “attempts to reveal something deep within the spirit of things.” He is guided by the Buddhist idea that emptiness is everything eternal. In 2004, he was selected by Absolut vodka to design its Raspberri advertising campaign.
SELECTED RECENT EXHIBITIONS:Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (Winston-
Salem, NC, 2005)/Arcus-Project (Tsukuba, Japan, 2005)/The Reed Space (New York, 2005)/
Dream So Much 2 (New York, 2003).
