Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by Japanese painter Toto Takamori.

Toto Takamori spends months creating his tiny 4x6 or 5x7 paintings. His paintings consist of layers and layers of oil paint, sometimes as many as 70 layers says the artist, but we must take his word for it. The paintings often take months to dry, but the wait is worth it.

These tiny gems are extremely colorful, sometimes with touches of glitter added, but most fascinating are those in which he mixes matte color with a greyish underpainting to mimic the surface of rocks altered by time and weather.

The artist is interested in continually exploring various paint media and combining them with pieces of found metal, plastic and other materials to create a textural surface. Though he resides in Tokyo, he visits NYC often and is interested in studying both Eastern and Western approaches to creating art. He began as a figurative artist as many artists do, but now what is more important to him than depicting people or objects are the properties of the paint medium.

This is the first solo exhibition that Takamori is having at Viridian.