KIKUO SAITO

Kikuo Saito was raised in Japan until the age of 27. In 1966, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a studio assistant to influential artists: Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Poons, and Kenneth Noland.

In 1996, Saito took up artist residency at Duke University and was honored with a grant from the Foundation of Contemporary Performing Arts, New York. Simultaneously, he continued exhibiting his work in both solo and group exhibitions.

As well as being a talented painter since the 1970s, Saito worked in the world of theater production, helping to orchestrate costumes, dance, music, and art direction. Within this line of work, Saito collaborated with seminal theater figures including Jerome Robbins, Robert Wilson, and Peter Brook.

Mirroring his artistic experience working in the dynamic world of theater, Saito painted his canvases from overhead, creating them in a rhythmic manner, often placing canvases and paper on the floor while allowing himself the ability to move freely around them, building his compositions with grace and fervor.

Saito had a successful career as an artist, exhibiting his work at esteemed institutions including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, Queen’s University in Canada, Duke University in North Carolina, and many renowned international galleries. Saito’s exhibition history is extensive including solo shows from 1976-2017 and group shows beginning in 1970. An important artist of our time, Saito’s legacy is remembered through his beautiful body of work as well as his instruction as a professor at Art Students League, New York.

Saito passed away in 2016.

2018 – Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California

2016 – Leslie Feely Gallery, New York, New York

2015 – Octavia Art Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

2014 – Leslie Feely Gallery, New York, New York

2012 – Jill Newhouse Gallery, New York, New York

2012 – Asagaya Art College Vision’s Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2011 – Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida

2010 – New York Design Center, New York, New York

2009 – Leslie Feely Fine Art, New York, New York

2007 – 680 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York

2006 – Gallery Thiele, Linz, Austria

2005 – Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida

2004 – Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, New York

2002 – Stephen Haller Gallery, New York, New York

2000 – Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida

1999 – Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan

1998 – Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida

1997 – Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, New York

1997 – Galerie Thiele, Linz, Austria

1996 – Galerie BMB, Amsterdam, Holland

1996 – Marita Gilliam Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina

1996 – Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina

1995 – Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery, London, England

1994 – Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia

1993 – Eva Cohon Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

1993 – Blaffer-Robinson Gallery, Houston, Texas

1993 – Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery, London, England

1992 – Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida

1992 – Gallery Three, Palm Beach, Florida

1991 – Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, New York

1989 – Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery, London, England

1989 – Eva Cohon Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

1989 – Galerie Don Stewart, Montreal, Canada

1988 – Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida

1988 – Waddington & Shiell Galleries, Toronto, Canada

1988 – Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, New York

1987 – Eva Cohon Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

1987 – Images Gallery, Toledo, Ohio

1987 – Galerie Don Stewart, Montreal, Canada

1986 – Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Floriday

1985 – Salander -O’Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, New York

1984 – Il Punto Blu Gallery, Southampton, New York

1982 – Medicine Hat Museum, Alberta, Canada

1981 – Galerie Ninety-Nine, Bay Harbor Islands, Florida

1981 – Hett Gallery, Edmonton Canada

1981 – Galerie Ulysses, Vienna, Austria

1980 – S.G. Mathews Gallery, San Antonio, Texas

1979 – S.G. Mathews Gallery, San Antonio, Texas

1978 – William Edward O’Reilly, Inc., New York, New York

1977 – William Edward O’Reilly, Inc., New York, New York

1976 – Deitcher/O’Reilly Galleries, New York, New York