Baby Buddha

Koichi Matsufuji was born in 1973 in Nagasaki, Japan. He studied glass working at Aichi University of Education, and after graduating he went to the United States with the support of a Pola Art Foundation Researcher Overseas Grant.

In the United States, Matsufuji studied sculpture at Illinois State University and received his master's degree in 2001. He was the Artist in Residence at a number of organizations, including New York’s Edward F. Albee Foundation and the Creative Glass Center of America in New Jersey (now WheatonArts), and later occupied similar seats at various events in Turkey and Japan. Today Matsufuji lives and works as an artist in Toyama, Japan.

The surfaces of Matsufuji's most representative works — those of the "Baby Series" — are finished with ground glass. As the ground glass provides a kaleidoscope of surface facades, depending on the way the light shines, the pieces glisten like just polished jewels. Matsufuji uses the lost-wax kiln casting glass technique in making much of his work. It starts with the making of the original form of the piece in wax, followed by the addition of refractory plaster to create a mold. Then, the mold is filled with glass and set in the electric kiln. The glass is melted at a temperature of 900°C and then cooled slowly over a number of days, after which it is removed and carefully polished.

Matsufuji says that his works gain a soul during the time they spend in the kiln, and therefore he’s extraordinarily careful when he takes them out and polishes them. He then inserts the babies’ eyes for the finishing touch. Today Matsufuji’s works can be found at galleries and in collections in the United States, Asia and Europe.

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(Biography provided by Ai Bo Gallery)

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

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Figurative sculptures mix reality and imagination, with the most common muse being the human body. Animals are also inspirations for these sculptures, along with forms found in nature.

While figurative sculpture dates back over 35,000 years, the term came into popularity in the 20th century to distinguish it from abstract art. It was aligned with the Expressionist movement in that many of its artists portrayed reality but in a nonnaturalistic and emotional way. In the 1940s, Alberto Giacometti — a Swiss-born artist who was interested in African art, Cubism and Surrealism — created now-iconic representational sculptures of the human figure, and after World War II, figurative sculpture as a movement continued to flourish in Europe.

Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon were some of the leading figurative artists during this period. Artists like Jeff Koons and Maurizio Cattelan propelled the evolution of figurative sculpture into the 21st century.

Figurative sculptures can be whimsical, uncanny and beautiful. Their materials range from stone and wood to metal and delicate ceramics. Even in smaller sizes, the sculptures make bold statements. A bronze sculpture by Salvador Dalí enhances a room; a statuesque bull by Jacques Owczarek depicts strength with its broad chest while its thin legs speak of fragility. Figurative sculptures allow viewers to see what is possible when life is reimagined.

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