Asuka Ohsawa builds upon on the legacy of the Japanese giga, which literally means “humorous picture,” a style of painting that used seemingly comical images, such as animals engaged in human activities, to inform an often politically motivated satire. Much like the giga, Ohsawa’s unadorned graphic technique belies the tension of her drawings, in which social issues are articulated through the strange fables of humanlike animals that exhibit cross-cultural and inter-species distrust.

Asuka Ohsawa (b. 1973, Torrance, CA) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received a MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and a BFA from California State University, Long Beach. She has been included in exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Japanese American Historic Society, San Francisco; the Asian American Arts Centre, New York; Sixspace, Los Angeles; and Freight + Volume, New York, among others. Her work has been reviewed in numerous publications including: The New York Times, Draft, Art on Paper, The Boston Globe, and Art New England.

Exhibitions / Images:
Little Red Riding Hood's Scooter Squad
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More Information:
Resume [PDF]
Interview [PDF]

Selected Press:
Cotter, Holland. "Sadie Hawkins Dance." The New York Times.
Hecker, Raquel. "The party's (not quite) over..." Grand Street News.
Janku, Laura Richard. “Asuka Ohsawa.” Art on Paper.
Johnson, Ken. "Asuka Ohsawa." The New York Times.
McCoy, Mary Bucci. “Asuka Ohsawa – Metaphors.” Art New England.
McQuaid, Cate. “Her Simple Drawings Have Complex Messages.” Boston Globe.
Millis, Christopher. “Smash Hits.” Boston Phoenix.
Plummer, D’Lynne. “Tradition Goes Pop at NAO.” South End News.
Potvin, Kimberly. "Asuka Ohsawa." BigRedandShiny.com.
Romano, Tricia. "A Moveable Feast." The Village Voice.
Yanagihara, Hanya. “Drawing Resurfaces.” Departures.
_____. "Asuka Ohsawa." Draft.

External Links:
Massimo Carasi / The Flat; Milan, Italy
Imperfect Articles