Azuma Norio
Norio Azuma was born in Kii Nagashima-cho, Japan on November 23, 1928. Azuma worked as a printmaker, experimenting using the medium of screen printing (serigraphy) on canvas, then a relatively new development in the evolution of printmaking. Azuma worked for two years perfecting this technique and used up to 18 screens in printing his serigraphs.
New York Times art critic, John Canaday, once described one of Azuma’s serigraphs as “so beautiful a manipulation of shape, color and texture that it eliminates my lingering objections to serigraphy as a technique.” Azuma created screen prints on canvas that, at first glance, appear to be paintings. They were varnished and framed without glass. The ink is so thick that it creates the illusion of collage.
Azuma exhibited internationally, including: 30 Contemporary American Artists, USIA; 28th Corcoran Biennial Exhibition, Washington, DC; the 3rd International Triennial of Original Graphics; Contemporary American Artists at The White House; Sculpture and Prints at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Kagai Sakka Ten at the Tokyo Modern Museum of Art; and American Art Today at the New York World’s Fair. His work can also be found in numerous collections, including: Whitney Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Butler Institute of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, State University of Potsdam, Smithsonian Institute, The Free Library of Philadelphia, Library of Congress and Chase Manhattan, to name a few.
Norio Azuma died in New York, New York February 4, 2004
Azuma’s original works can be found in major corporate and museum collections around the United States and abroad, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, University of Nebraska, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Butler Institute of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, State University of Potsdam, Smithsonian Institute, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Library of Congress, Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Academy of Science, St. Louis Art Museum, M.I.T., University of California, Art Institute of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, IBM., New Jersey State Museum, Princeton University, USIA, Des Moines Art Center, Rosenwald Collection, Hirshhorn Museum, American Republic Insurance Co. Collection, La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, Boston Public Library, Palm Springs Desert Museum, Chouinard Art Institute, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art and Kanazawa Art College.
His work was also exhibited in shows such as “30 Contemporary Artists” at USIA, “28th Corcoran Biennial Exhibition” in Washington, D.C., “3rd International Triennial of Original Graphics,” “Contemporary American Artists” at the White House, “Sculpture and Prints” at Whitney Museum of American Art, “Kagai Sakka Ten” at the Tokyo Modern Museum of Art, and “American Art Today” at the New York World’s Fair.
