Not so Innocent: Fuco Ueda artwork

Japanese artist Fuco Ueda produces beautiful images of Japanese girls that are innocent, sexy, and dangerous all at once. You can view several original works at the Roq La Rue Gallery this month.

Fuco paints using acrylic and powdered mineral pigments, and finishes her work with shell powder. The result is simultaneously soft and crisp, like her subjects.

"The heroines of Fuco Ueda’s paintings are often on the brink of danger. These beauties are at once victims and agents. But whether the threats are self-inflicted or not, they make for fierce and beautiful narratives." [#]




Is she smelling the chrystanthemum, or metaphorically tasting the flower?
Fierce indeed!

The Roq was lucky enough to get a show commitment from Fuco before she signed on with Tomoko Kogure, of Tokyo's Gallery Kogure. I chatted with Tomoko on Friday but she didn't reveal much of her plan for Fuco. Here's hoping Fuco doesn't end up in an artist stable and just one of many. Fuco's work is too good to be sidelined. All of the her pieces for the Roq show have been purchased.

I talked with Fuco Ueda for a few minutes through her friend who translated for us. Nice. Shy. Surprised that I knew of her work from a year ago and that I had been eagerly anticipating her show in Seattle.

Get yourself down to the Roq La Rue in the next couple of weeks to see this work in person. It is lovely, lively, and a bit sexy-dangerous -- in a metaphoric way.

p.s. It is safe for kids: the sexy-dangerous vibe will go right over their innocent little heads.