Volcano Love Painting

Yuki Itoda was born in Japan in 1982, a third generation Tokyo resident. He works in a variety of media, including oil, acrylic, spray paint, and neon. His work draws on an array of techniques ranging from traditional oil painting to graffiti and experimental video. Sometimes starkly simple, elsewhere striped and patterned like tacky retro jumpsuits seen through a kaleidoscope, his works alternate between an endearing vulnerability and an infectious retinal assault. Prolific Japanese artist and founder of Geisai, Takashi Murakami, took early notice of his work and became Yuki's first commercial collector in 2006. In 2007, Itoda collaborated with the group AVAF on the exhibition "Space for your Future: Recombining the DNA of Art and Design" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT). More recently, Itoda was invited to participate in the 2009 Armory Show VIP Reception at the St. Regis Residences. The group show, to which Itoda contributed over 70 paintings, was titled "The Girls from Kyoto and other Japanese Contemporary Masters," and received immediate critical attention.