A humorous print from his body parts series featuring three insects drawn out from fingerprints by Hoshino Shingo dating from 1989, signed and numbered 77/100. Printing ink on paper framed in wood, the work is 12 x 16 cm (5 x 6-1/4 inches), the matte 37.8 x 28.2 cm (15 x 11-1/4 inches). The frame is 47.3 x 39 x 2.8 cm (19 x 15-1/2 x 1 inches) and all is in excellent condition.
Hoshino Shingo was born on August 15, 1923 in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. After graduating in 1944 from the Design Department of the Kyoto Municipal School of Painting, he entered its Nihonga Department, graduating in 1948 before advancing to the research course. While still a student, he formed a close friendship with Mikami Sei, and in 1949, together with Mikami, Shimomura Ryōnosuke, and Ōno Hidetaka (Shukusū), he co-founded the Pan-Real Art Association with fellow graduates of the Kyoto Municipal School of Painting. Seeking a decisive break from traditional Nihonga, they deliberately adopted the term “nikawa-e” (glue painting) and explored its potential as a form of contemporary art. From early figurative works such as Nest (3rd Pan-Real Exhibition, 1949) and Broken Jar (5th exhibition, 1950), his practice gradually shifted toward abstraction, as seen in Work Using Cardboard (18th exhibition, 1960) and Mental Image (20th exhibition, 1962). In 1964, he joined the Nihonga Research Group led by Yano Jun’ichi and Hariu Ichirō. The death of his father that same year prompted him to produce numerous works using “jintaku,” pressing his own body against the pictorial surface. In 1974, together with artists such as Nakamura Masayoshi, he expanded the Nihonga Research Group into the avant-garde collective Jūkai (From Society), organizing highly individual exhibitions. During this period, he also co-founded the Chūnichi Art School in 1951 with Nakamura Masayoshi, Hirakawa Toshio, and Takahata Ikuko, and in 1962 received the top prize at the 5th Chūbu Nihonga General Exhibition. He exhibited in major shows including the Japan International Art Exhibition and the Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition, and in 1971 became a part-time lecturer at Tokyo Zokei University. In 1985, a two-person exhibition with Mikami Sei was held at the Fukui Prefectural Museum of Art, and in 1996 a major retrospective, Hoshino Shingo, was presented at the Toyohashi City Museum of Art and History and the Niigata City Art Museum. Work by him is held in Numerous museums throughout Japan, including both the Tokyo and Kyoto National Museums of Modern Art.
