Atsuko Ishii

artwork

Recent artworks

A trace of ourselves, 2020
etching print in colors
50 x 40 cm marges inclusives
Numbered and signed, edition 17 ex.

Moving ahead falling back, 2017
Etching (2 plates) printed in colour on paper
Numbered and signed in the margin in pencil by the artist: n°28/31
Paper size : 24 x 32 cm

TEXT

Biography

1970, Osaka, Japan.

Lives and works in France since 1995.
Atsuko Ishii rarely draws, considering her copper plate as a sheet of paper on which she expresses herself. Etching consists of varnishing a plate, attacking the varnish with a point to create the patterns, then soaking the plate in an acid bath that will attack the unprotected areas. Once cleaned, the plate is inked and several passages are made under the press according to the colors. The artist adds to this technique a system of gluing Japanese paper (e.g. the bodies), stencils on the plate for the colored surfaces, or embossing for certain elements (pair of cherries, dog, beetle, beating heart, ...).
The printing is always in limited series and no intervention of the artist is made directly with the hand on the paper.
His precision of the line on the copper plate, his fine cuts which are used as stencil denote the control of a complex old technique. However, her world remains resolutely modern, taking printmaking out of the traditional framework - literally and figuratively.
Atsuko Ishii has a very fluid way of approaching her compositions, in a clear line. She has built up a personal vocabulary, with certain motifs appearing from one print to the next in different compositions; people, fruit, elements of architecture, landscape, signs, etc. appearing, others disappearing.

At first glance, Atsuko Ishii’s engravings seem full of naivety, but this is feigned, as her compositions are often tinged with mischief. The artist draws us into her fresh, dreamlike world, full of humour, creating improbable situations – like magical, surreal rebuses – in which references to childhood are often present.
Thus, there is no defined floor; we see Kermit the Frog appear, a smoking volcano, a teddy bear with its head upside down, girls wearing just one shoe, boys wearing two different shoes, girls brandishing revolvers as in Westerns! or dressed as ballerinas. These are just a few examples of an unrestrained narrative, accentuated by phrases in English or French, where elements collide, taking us to a new level of interpretation.
Over the years, the drawings have become more expansive, the vocabulary richer, and the colour palette more varied. Some compositions are reminiscent of ‘all-over’ designs, where characters and animals seem to emerge from a carpet of multicoloured flowers or a starry sky. Text copyright Nathalie Béreau

To mark her 30th anniversary in printmaking in 2025, the artist has staged several exhibitions accompanied by a new book, *Personal Reality Show* (available for purchase on request from Contact).

CV

CURRICULUM VITAE

Selected exhibitions since 2015. P = personal

2020

Un voyage parisien, Galerie Nathalie Béreau, Paris
Lad’s Gallery, Osaka Japon P
Gallery Tetrahedron, Okayama, Japon P
Gallery Vie, Kobe Japon P

2019

Poudres et traits, Galerie Nathalie Béreau, rue des Gds Augustins, Paris, Parcours des galeries parisiennes de l’estampe et du dessin
Parallèles, Galerie Nathalie Béreau, Espace Beaurepaire, Paris
Galerie boutique Cubik, Montpellier
Galerie Artinside, Château-Gontier
Atelier Sobre Papel, Vincennes
Gallery Tetrahedoron, Okayama, Japon P
Lad’s Gallery, Osaka, Japon P
Gallery Vie, Kobe, Japon P
Galerie Christian Collin, Paris P
French Touche Galerie, Paris P
Gallery JAS, Breda, Pays-Bas P

2018

Atelier Jopo, Bruxelles P
Lad’s gallery, Osaka P
Gallery Tetrahedron, Okayama P
Gallery Vie, Kobe P
Gallery JAS, Breda, Pays-Bas P
Galerie boutique Cubik, Montpellier
Atelier Sobre-Papel, Vincennes
Galerie Le Rayon vert, Nantes
Galerie Rejane Louin, Locquirec

2017

Lad’s gallery, Osaka P
Gallery Shima, Nishinomiya P
Gallery Tetrahedoron, Okayama P
Gallery Vie, Kobe P
Mbmore Gallery, Taipei P
Atelier mandarine, Brest P
Galerie boutique CUBIC, Montpellier
Galerie rayon vert, Nantes
Les moyen du bord, Morlaix

2016

Lad’s gallery Osaka P
Gallery Shima, Nishinoiya P
Gallery Tetrahedron, Okayama P
Gallery Vie, Kobe P
Galerie L’œil ouvert, Paris P
Gallery Jas, Breda, Pays-Bas P
Atelier JOPO, Bruxelles P
Grafixx, Anvers

2015

Librairie galerie Minima, Paris
Atelier Ototsu group show à la Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Lad’s gallery, Osaka, P
Gallery Tetrahedron, Okayama P
Gallery Arai, Kobe P
Gallery Vie, Kobe P
Tom’s box, Tokyo P
Galerie L’œil ouvert, Paris P
Galerie Ducastel, Avignon P
Galerie-boutique Cubik, Montpellier P
Gravure, n.f. ..., avec 6 autres artistes graveurs, Galerie Nathalie Béreau c/° Chai Pierre & Bertrand Couly, Chinon

More

Orders (selection)

2020 Gravure et application porte coupe-feu palier pour les couloirs du SuiteNovotel ACCOR de la ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg (art consultant Galerie Nathalie Béreau)
2019 18 gravures pour les couloirs du SuiteNovotel ACCOR de la ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg (art consultant Galerie Nathalie Béreau)
2011 Création de l’affiche pour Polock Rock en Seine, Paris
2010 Création pour le Bon Marché, Noël (objets+foulard)
Mur de gravures pour le salon d’accueil du petit-déjeuner, SuiteNovotel ACCOR de la ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg (art consultant Galerie Nathalie Béreau)
2009 Création de motif de textile de mode pour Lisybiz, Paris
2006 Sac à main, Au beau travail, Paris
Carte des 20 ans de la promotion ESSEC 86
Carte de voeux pour Nathalie Béreau acc&v, Paris
2004 Motifs pour Isabel Marant (tee-shirts, robe), Paris

Studies

1995-2002 Atelier Contrepoint, Paris
2002-2006 Cité internationale des arts, Paris

artwork

Overview artworks

Find the engravings presented below on sale in the Onlinegallery