Over the past few years, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Hiroshi Sugimoto – and more recently Mr. – are the artists who have 'monopolised' the forefront of the contemporary art scene when it comes to artists from Japan. It is not the whole picture, of course, of contemporary art from that country, rather it is the case that these artists have actively used public relations in order to create awareness. Hiroshi Senju does not belong to that category. Born in Japan in 1958, Hiroshi Senju could be considered an 'atypical' artist in the sense that he is one of the few of his generation to paint landscapes. Using ancient techniques, he has developed a fantastic repertoire providing a modern rendering of nature. His now famous waterfall paintings carry substantial depth, and it is not unusual to hear viewers raving about the state of contemplation they find themselves in when admiring his works. 

Among Hiroshi Senju’s many accomplishments, one should mention the extraordinary project for Shofuso in Philadelphia (www.shofuso.com). In this Japanese house and garden that is the only representation of the 17th-century Shoin style of Japanese architecture (Shoin-zukuri) in the US, he created a series of 20 murals for fusuma (sliding doors) to replace those that had been previously vandalised. As can be seen in the interview below, Hiroshi Senju is an artist of substance, who walks his own path regardless of the latest fashion or demands.