Flowers. With their nobility and grace, their sweetness and charm, they have a special ability to heal our hearts.
The Button, is, in my mind, the perfect embodiment of something that connects two separate things and makes them one.
The “Button Flower” brings these two powerful symbols together and is really at the very core of my personal
philosophy of hope and my wish that the hearts of different peoples, nations, and cultures will be joined into one.
ABOUT
Born in Tokyo in 1977, SHUN SUDO is currently based in Tokyo. SUDO travelled to the United States in his 20s and taught himself art techniques while wandering around the world.
SUDO's attractive artworks cannot be described as or fit in one genre. His artistic practice is comprised of a wide variety of ingredients, such as elements of American pop culture, inspirations from traditional Japanese paintings and "sumi-e" (Japanese ink wash painting), and influence from modern and contemporary artists mainly from the West. In his works, these elements remain distinct from each other, yet blended in a strangely harmonious manner.
Many of his works reflect SUDO's desire to connect people from all over the world toward a more beautiful and peaceful world through art.
The "BUTTON FLOWER" which often appears in his work is a symbolic motif of this belief. SUDO's artist statement on this motif and his motivation for the creation are as follows:
BUTTON FLOWER
Flowers. With their nobility and grace, their sweetness and charm, they have a special ability to heal our hearts.
The Button, is, in my mind, the perfect embodiment of something that connects two separate things and makes them one.
The “Button Flower” brings these two powerful symbols together and is really at the very core of my personal philosophy of hope and my wish that the hearts of different peoples, nations, and cultures will be joined into one.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2023 “ART LAND”
Solo Exhibition, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan - 2021 “ARTdemic”
Solo Exhibition, MU GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan - 2021 “Patio”
Solo Exhibition, The Tokyo EDITION Toranomon, Japan - 2020 “2020”
Solo Exhibition, ANB Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan - 2019 “SOLITUDE”
Solo Exhibition, Seibu Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan - 2018 “INNOCENT FOREST”
Solo Exhibition, Onishi Gallery, NY, USA - 2017 “Paint Over”
Solo Exhibition, Nakame Gallery Street, Tokyo, Japan - 2016 “Paint Over”
Solo Exhibition, Onishi Gallery, NY, USA - 2015 “Paint Over”
Solo Exhibition, Onishi Gallery, NY, USA
PROJECTS
- 2023 “24Hour TV”
Love Saves the Earth - NTV Charity T-shirt design, Tokyo, Japan - 2023 “tao × SHUN SUDO”
2023 Spring & Summer collection - 2022 “Taycan Soul Canvas”
Porsche - Art car project, Tokyo, Japan - 2021 “Olympic - TOKYO 2020”
Mural, Tokyo, Japan - 2021 “The mural project - Let’s Spring”
Seibu Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan - 2020 “ART IN THE PARK”
Mural, GINZA SONY PARK, Tokyo, Japan - 2018 “Miami Design District”
Mural, FL, USA - 2017 “NIKE AIR FORCE 1 : 35 Anniversary - Jump Around”
NIKE KICKS LOUNGE, Tokyo, Japan
GROUP EXHIBITIONS / ART FAIRS
- 2022 “Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary”
GR Gallery, Miami, FL, USA - 2021 “PRIDE ART 2021”
Clifford Chance, Tokyo, Japan - 2021 “Art Fair Tokyo”
Seibu Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan - 2020 “SUMMER GATHERING”
group exhibition, GR Gallery, NY, USA - 2019 “ARCUS PRIDE ART 2019”
Clifford Chance, Tokyo, Japan - 2018 “Art Miami”
Miami, FL, USA - 2018 “pop & street”
Seibu Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan - 2017 “Art New York”
NY, USA - 2017 “pop & street”
Seibu Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan - 2016 “Aqua Art Miami”
Miami, FL, USA 2015 “SCOPE Miami Beach” Miami, FL, USA - 2015 “Bushwick Open Studios”
Brooklyn, NY, USA
EXHIBITIONS
Special Exhibition, 2023
MOMENTARY
DATES : November 23 – December 7, 2023
VENUE : Kyoto RYOSOKUIN
Special Exhibition, 2023
MOMENTARY
Studying history was never my thing. I was always more interested in the present and future, rather than what happened in the past. I didn’t have a strong sense of patriotism toward Japan either. I felt more admiration for the countries I had yet to see across the ocean than the country where I was born and raised. That’s probably why I spent a long time traveling overseas.
It’s funny how the more I traveled, the more I felt the wonders of Japan, and the more I thought about its history and traditions. It wasn’t until I became an adult who was able to travel freely that I realized perhaps the scenery that I had casually seen and the changing seasons I had taken for granted were something unique to Japan. Something that had been created over a long period of time.
When I looked at the carefully maintained garden from the veranda of Ryosokuin, I thought that this was exactly the beauty of Japan. The appearance changes swiftly to a move of a cloud or a blow of a wind. These trees, rocks and water have created this beautiful landscape over hundreds of years, gradually changing their shapes and colors. Everything I saw seemed instantaneous and eternal at the same time.
With mixed senses of great awe and pride, I started painting. I had never been conscious of being Japanese while drawing until now. In fact, I had always thought of myself as a person who is far from such nationalism. During the process of painting, the Japanese part of me awakened. I feel as if the landscape and history of Ryosokuin has awaken the Japanese in me. I was taken to a place I would never have reached on my own and was able to create this work of art I would never have been able to draw by myself. Through this work, I would like to express my gratitude to Ryosokuin, Kyoto and to Japan for raising me.
SHUN SUDO
DATES : November 23 – December 7, 2023
VENUE : Kyoto RYOSOKUIN
Solo Exhibition, 2023
ART LAND
Art keeps me entertained. Innocently and sometimes in unexpected ways
My attitude towards painting hasn’t changed since when I was a kid. The kid who used to scribble on the faces of historical figures in my textbooks and jotting down friends’ and teacher’s faces on the corner of my notes. I now draw on canvases instead of textbooks and notebooks, but the joy of drawing remains the same. When I’m drawing, my mind takes off freely beyond time and space. My right hand is just following the movement of my mind and the painting brush in my hand leaves the trail on the canvas. An indescribable happiness fills my heart when I finish drawing this way.
Friends all over the world have come to bring me various ideas, challenges and opportunities. Massive walls, sneakers, cars, clothes, cookie tins, bear-shaped figurines… I was challenged to paint on various things. Big, small, curved, spherical. It always seemed difficult at first, but when I tried, my heart and hands moved as if I were facing a canvas. If these works can be called art, then I think art is something beyond amazing. It has more possibilities than I can dream and the fun is simply immeasurable.
I’m starting to see something beyond the fun. This ART LAND is an exhibition to see the future and its possibilities. It’d make me happy and feel more liberated if you could join me on my journey of art through this ART LAND.
SHUN SUDO
DATES : January 12 – 24, 2023
VENUE : Spiral Garden
Solo Exhibition, 2023
ART LAND
Art keeps me entertained. Innocently and sometimes in unexpected ways
My attitude towards painting hasn’t changed since when I was a kid. The kid who used to scribble on the faces of historical figures in my textbooks and jotting down friends’ and teacher’s faces on the corner of my notes. I now draw on canvases instead of textbooks and notebooks, but the joy of drawing remains the same. When I’m drawing, my mind takes off freely beyond time and space. My right hand is just following the movement of my mind and the painting brush in my hand leaves the trail on the canvas. An indescribable happiness fills my heart when I finish drawing this way.
Friends all over the world have come to bring me various ideas, challenges and opportunities. Massive walls, sneakers, cars, clothes, cookie tins, bear-shaped figurines… I was challenged to paint on various things. Big, small, curved, spherical. It always seemed difficult at first, but when I tried, my heart and hands moved as if I were facing a canvas. If these works can be called art, then I think art is something beyond amazing. It has more possibilities than I can dream and the fun is simply immeasurable.
I’m starting to see something beyond the fun. This ART LAND is an exhibition to see the future and its possibilities. It’d make me happy and feel more liberated if you could join me on my journey of art through this ART LAND.
SHUN SUDO
DATES : January 12 – 24, 2023
VENUE : Spiral Garden
Solo Exhibition, 2022
Blowin’ in the Wind
The timing of this solo exhibition coincides with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that began early 2022. Among all the anti war songs Shun sudo feels that Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the wind” (1963), one of the most popular anti-war songs, is the most relatable one for him. The song has been said to have been written in support of the black American civil rights movement of that time and raises a rhetorical question about peace, war and freedom. The singer believed that while all the answers were present no one dares to find them.
Although the song carries a strong anti-war message, it never forces an “answer” on its audience, similarly we can see this pattern in shun sudo’s work. “Flowers” and “doves,” which are the main pieces of this exhibition, are subjects frequently used as symbols of peace, which is a rather direct metaphor, and, if you look closely at the “vase” containing the “button flower,” you will notice that it can also look like an upside-down helmet of a soldier. Various other weapons meant for killing, such as shell casings and bazookas, seem to have lost their original destruction purpose and have been reborn into something new, with the artist’s re-appropriation,
In a world where political turmoil is becoming more and more severe by the day, the question of “what can art do” remains. If you are curious about SHUN SUDO’s attempt to answer this question, come and see for yourself.
Cultural Studies Scholar – Hiroki Yamamoto
DATES : July 9 – 24, 2022
VENUE : elephant STUDIO
Solo Exhibition, 2022
Blowin’ in the Wind
The timing of this solo exhibition coincides with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that began early 2022. Among all the anti war songs Shun sudo feels that Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the wind” (1963), one of the most popular anti-war songs, is the most relatable one for him. The song has been said to have been written in support of the black American civil rights movement of that time and raises a rhetorical question about peace, war and freedom. The singer believed that while all the answers were present no one dares to find them.
Although the song carries a strong anti-war message, it never forces an “answer” on its audience, similarly we can see this pattern in shun sudo’s work. “Flowers” and “doves,” which are the main pieces of this exhibition, are subjects frequently used as symbols of peace, which is a rather direct metaphor, and, if you look closely at the “vase” containing the “button flower,” you will notice that it can also look like an upside-down helmet of a soldier. Various other weapons meant for killing, such as shell casings and bazookas, seem to have lost their original destruction purpose and have been reborn into something new, with the artist’s re-appropriation,
In a world where political turmoil is becoming more and more severe by the day, the question of “what can art do” remains. If you are curious about SHUN SUDO’s attempt to answer this question, come and see for yourself.
Cultural Studies Scholar – Hiroki Yamamoto
DATES : July 9 – 24, 2022
VENUE : elephant STUDIO
Solo Exhibition, 2021
Art Demic
Can’t verbalize. No need to put into words.
Therefore, I paint.
Why do you paint? Tell us the background of this painting? What’s art for you?
I paint just because I want to,
but for some reason people ask me for words.
There is no reason.
No context nor interesting story behind it.
I don’t consider myself doing art.
There may be a message to it but that’s not the reason why I paint.
I paint what I want to, the way I want to,
when I want to.
When I’m painting, I don’t feel like I’m myself, yet again I guess it’s me and my true self.
That feeling cannot be verbalized and I don’t even give a damn about trying to describe it in words.
I paint because that moment gives me irresistible happiness. Therefore, I paint.
SHUN SUDO
DATES : December 11 – 26, 2021
VENUE : MU GALLERY
Solo Exhibition, 2021
Art Demic
Can’t verbalize. No need to put into words.
Therefore, I paint.
Why do you paint? Tell us the background of this painting? What’s art for you?
I paint just because I want to,
but for some reason people ask me for words.
There is no reason.
No context nor interesting story behind it.
I don’t consider myself doing art.
There may be a message to it but that’s not the reason why I paint.
I paint what I want to, the way I want to,
when I want to.
When I’m painting, I don’t feel like I’m myself, yet again I guess it’s me and my true self.
That feeling cannot be verbalized and I don’t even give a damn about trying to describe it in words.
I paint because that moment gives me irresistible happiness. Therefore, I paint.
SHUN SUDO
DATES : December 11 – 26, 2021
VENUE : MU GALLERY
PROJECT
Capsule Collection
“BUTTON FLOWER BLOSSOMS”, 2024
CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN ×
SHUN SUDO
As part of his Spring/Summer 2024 collection, Christian Louboutin joins together with Japanese artist Shun Sudo to unveil an exciting lifestyle capsule of colorful shoes and accessories for women and men. The limited capsule collection launches alongside a vibrant and exclusive artwork crafted by Shun Sudo to illustrate the collaboration: Button Flower Blossoms. Co-designed by Shun Sudo & Christian Louboutin, this artistic collaboration ties back to the designerʼs vivid passions for art and nature, revisiting a selection of the Maisonʼs most iconic silhouettes in an exclusive floral print and embellishment.
“I love Shun Sudo’s work. While working on the collection we discovered many common points in the way we work on colors, with strong and audacious combinations. And since the very beginning of my career I’ve one emblematic flower: the Pensee (my first design to receive the red sole), he has his own one: the Button Flower that appeared to become the center of the collection. His technique also is very characteristic and I did my best to transcript this painting effect on the shoes.”
CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN
“Christian Louboutin’s shoes exude a sense of beauty, eccentricity, and delicacy that I have never seen in my life. They inspired my creativity. I am very grateful to have collaborated with Christian. Flowers, with their nobility and grace, their sweetness and charm, they have a special ability to heal our hearts. The Button, is, in my mind, the perfect embodi- ment of something that connects two separate things and makes them one. The “Button Flower” brings these two powerful symbols together and is really at the very core of my personal philosophy of hope and my wish that the hearts of different peoples, nations, and cultures will be joined into one.“
SHUN SUDO
Capsule Collection
“BUTTON FLOWER BLOSSOMS”, 2024
CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN ×
SHUN SUDO
As part of his Spring/Summer 2024 collection, Christian Louboutin joins together with Japanese artist Shun Sudo to unveil an exciting lifestyle capsule of colorful shoes and accessories for women and men. The limited capsule collection launches alongside a vibrant and exclusive artwork crafted by Shun Sudo to illustrate the collaboration: Button Flower Blossoms. Co-designed by Shun Sudo & Christian Louboutin, this artistic collaboration ties back to the designerʼs vivid passions for art and nature, revisiting a selection of the Maisonʼs most iconic silhouettes in an exclusive floral print and embellishment.
“I love Shun Sudo’s work. While working on the collection we discovered many common points in the way we work on colors, with strong and audacious combinations. And since the very beginning of my career I’ve one emblematic flower: the Pensee (my first design to receive the red sole), he has his own one: the Button Flower that appeared to become the center of the collection. His technique also is very characteristic and I did my best to transcript this painting effect on the shoes.”
CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN
“Christian Louboutin’s shoes exude a sense of beauty, eccentricity, and delicacy that I have never seen in my life. They inspired my creativity. I am very grateful to have collaborated with Christian. Flowers, with their nobility and grace, their sweetness and charm, they have a special ability to heal our hearts. The Button, is, in my mind, the perfect embodi- ment of something that connects two separate things and makes them one. The “Button Flower” brings these two powerful symbols together and is really at the very core of my personal philosophy of hope and my wish that the hearts of different peoples, nations, and cultures will be joined into one.“
SHUN SUDO
Charity T-Shirts, 2023
24 HOUR TELEVISION
With a 46-year history since its first broadcast in 1978, the charity program “24-Hour TV (NTV)” can be regarded as a pioneer of charity fundraising activities in Japan. The total amount raised through the 45th edition of the program is 42,417,255,957 yen. SHUN SUDO has designed charity T-shirts for the 2023 edition, following in the footsteps of such leading Japanese contemporary artists as Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama.
Charity T-Shirts, 2023
24 HOUR TELEVISION
With a 46-year history since its first broadcast in 1978, the charity program “24-Hour TV (NTV)” can be regarded as a pioneer of charity fundraising activities in Japan. The total amount raised through the 45th edition of the program is 42,417,255,957 yen. SHUN SUDO has designed charity T-shirts for the 2023 edition, following in the footsteps of such leading Japanese contemporary artists as Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama.
Photos: Courtesy of COMME des GARÇONS
tao Spring & Summer Collection, 2023
tao × SHUN SUDO
© tao 2023 Spring & Summer Collection
Photos: Courtesy of COMME des GARÇONS
tao Spring & Summer Collection, 2023
tao × SHUN SUDO
© tao 2023 Spring & Summer Collection
© PORSCHE JAPAN
Porsche – Art Car Project, 2022
Taycan Soul Canvas
This car is filled with the future that Porsche wants to realize,
including respect for tradition, nature, the environment, the earth, and people.
That’s what resonated with me.
SHUN SUDO
© PORSCHE JAPAN
Porsche – Art Car Project, 2022
Taycan Soul Canvas
This car is filled with the future that Porsche wants to realize,
including respect for tradition, nature, the environment, the earth, and people.
That’s what resonated with me.
SHUN SUDO
Studying history was never my thing. I was always more interested in the present and future, rather than what happened in the past. I didn’t have a strong sense of patriotism toward Japan either. I felt more admiration for the countries I had yet to see across the ocean than the country where I was born and raised. That’s probably why I spent a long time traveling overseas.
It’s funny how the more I traveled, the more I felt the wonders of Japan, and the more I thought about its history and traditions. It wasn’t until I became an adult who was able to travel freely that I realized perhaps the scenery that I had casually seen and the changing seasons I had taken for granted were something unique to Japan. Something that had been created over a long period of time.
When I looked at the carefully maintained garden from the veranda of Ryosokuin, I thought that this was exactly the beauty of Japan. The appearance changes swiftly to a move of a cloud or a blow of a wind. These trees, rocks and water have created this beautiful landscape over hundreds of years, gradually changing their shapes and colors. Everything I saw seemed instantaneous and eternal at the same time.
With mixed senses of great awe and pride, I started painting. I had never been conscious of being Japanese while drawing until now. In fact, I had always thought of myself as a person who is far from such nationalism. During the process of painting, the Japanese part of me awakened. I feel as if the landscape and history of Ryosokuin has awaken the Japanese in me. I was taken to a place I would never have reached on my own and was able to create this work of art I would never have been able to draw by myself. Through this work, I would like to express my gratitude to Ryosokuin, Kyoto and to Japan for raising me.
SHUN SUDO