Hidetaka Suzuki is a figurative painter exploring the nature of fiction and reality in art - His work is driven by a concept that there is no correct interpretation of art and imagery, only the effect of both past and present circumstances. His still life and portrait oil paintings explore duplicity through imagery he has collected from a range of sources. Predominantly translating old and previously unseen photographs onto canvas, he instils the primary shot with new visibilities and meanings in the belief that it prolongs the life of the original moment captured. Many of the objects in Hidetaka Suzuki’s paintings are seemingly obvious depictions at first glance, but they are in fact detached from their original context. By doing so, they take on multiple meanings – and refuse to be pigeonholed, depriving the viewer of certainty. It blurs the boundary between what we experience as reality and what we imagine as fiction, asking us to question the truthfulness of what we see. Furthermore, the use of playful yet delicate brushstrokes subtly calls into question the absurdity and subjectivity of our own existence and the many untruths inherent in reality.

Born in Hokkaido, Japan, in 1986, Hidetaka Suzuki completed a BFA and an MFA in Oil Painting at Musashino Art University, Kodaira. He now lives and works in Tokyo. Solo exhibitions include Hidetaka Suzuki, Ackerman Clarke, Chicago UK (2023); Entity, Biscuit gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2022); Aberrating Surface, WHYNOT.TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan (2021); Absence of both, Second 2., Tokyo (2021). Group exhibitions include NADA Miami, Ackerman Clarke, Miami, US (2022); Grid2, Biscuit gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2023); Opening exhibition, Mees-Van De Wiele Galerie, Ghent (2023). Hidetaka was awarded both the Golden Acrylic Award at GEISAI (2009) and the Shell Art Award (2013).