Gajin Fujita: Process
L.A. Louver presents an inside look at Gajin Fujita’s unique artmaking process. A celebration of Fujita’s induction into the National Academy of Design and the corresponding exhibition Kinetic Traces in New York City, this online viewing room highlights a selection of Fujita’s recent paintings and the associated works on paper.
Gajin Fujita
In the studio, a step by step process of creating the work Angelic Intervention (AI), 2023
Studio images courtesy of Angela Fujita
Fujita’s compositions begin on gilded wood panels – a reference to the brilliant golden screens common in Japanese tradition. The panels are then tagged by Fujita and fellow artists, often from Fujita’s graffiti crews KGB (Kids Gone Bad) and K2S (Kill 2 Succeed). Atop the gilded background, Fujita achieves complex compositions using spray paint and intricate hand-made paper stencils.
Gajin Fujita
Study of Angelic Intervention, AI (Angel #1), 2024
pencil, ink, tape & spray paint on paper
36 1/8 x 26 7/8 in. (91.8 x 68.3 cm)
signed, titled and dated verso
$12,000
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Gajin Fujita
Study of Angelic Intervention, AI (Angel #2), 2024
pencil, ink, tape & spray paint on paper
36 1/4 x 23 7/8 in. (92.1 x 60.6 cm)
Framed: 41 x 28 1/4 in. (104.1 x 71.8 cm)
signed, titled and dated verso
$12,000
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Gajin Fujita
Angelic Intervention (Al), 2023
Spray paint, 24K gold leaf, 12K white gold leaf, acrylic paint and paint markers on four wood panels
48 x 64 in. (121.9 x 162.6 cm)
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To create the stencil, Fujita first draws the design on paper. Then, working color-by-color, he carves away corresponding sections of the drawn image. Spraying through the stencil, Fujita applies each color in spray paint to the gilded panels. He then replaces the cut-away pieces of the stencil and repeats the method for the next color. During the application process, the paper stencil is carefully held in place by small round and triangular weights – fishing weights that were inherited from the artist’s father – whose outlines are frequently captured on the stencil in the overspray. After the composite image is complete, Fujita sets aside the stencil and adds the most delicate details to the panels with paint markers or a fine point brush.
Gajin Fujita
In the studio, a step by step process of creating the work We Skyscrapin, 2025
Studio images courtesy of Angela Fujita
Gajin Fujita
We Skyscrapin, 2025
12K white gold leaf, 24K gold leaf, spray paint, acrylic and paint markers on four wood panels
48 x 64 in. (121.9 x 162.6 cm)
While the impact of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints is clearest in Fujita’s graphic dialect, it can also be seen in his creative process. As a printmaker crafts an image from layers of single-color plates or blocks, so Fujita creates his compositions from layers of spray paint, applied one color at a time. Unlike a used woodblock, Fujita’s stencils live on as independent artworks. After they have been used, Fujita affixes his stencils to a paper support and signs it with his unique chop mark in traditional red ink. These works on paper contains not only Fujita’s original drawings but also layers of overspray and the artist’s personal notes and sketches.
Gajin Fujita
In the studio, a step by step process of creating the work Game of Drones (GOD), 2022
Studio images courtesy of Angela Fujita
While these studies are in many ways elegant paper negatives of the painted image, a closer look ultimately reveals the energy and freedom inherent to Fujita’s creative process.
Gajin Fujita
Study for Game of Drones (GOD), (White Dragon), 2023
pencil, ink pen, spray paint, and artist tape on paper
53 x 76 in. (134.6 x 193 cm)
artist's chop mark on right side
$30,000
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Gajin Fujita
Study for Game of Drones (GOD), (Game Controller), 2024
pencil, ink, tape and spray paint on paper
9 x 8 11/16 in. (22.9 x 22.1 cm)
signed, titled, dated verso
$2,500
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Gajin Fujita
Study for Game of Drones (GOD), (Texaco Star with Cross), 2023
pencil and spray paint on paper
10 5/8 x 6 7/8 in. (27 x 17.5 cm)
Framed: 13 1/8 x 9 1/2 in. (33.3 x 24.1 cm)
artist's chop mark on lower right
$3,000
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Gajin Fujita
Study for Game of Drones (GOD), (Samurai), 2023
pencil, pen, spray paint, and tape on paper
Paper: 28 5/8 x 40 1/4 in. (72.7 x 102.2 cm)
Framed: 31 3/4 x 43 1/8 in. (80.6 x 109.5 cm)
artist's chop mark on right side
SOLD
Gajin Fujita
Study for Game of Drones (GOD), 2022
Spray paint, 12K & 23.75K goldleaf, acrylic, streaks, metalhead paint markers, paint
72 x 120 in. (182.9 x 304.8 cm)
signed and dated verso on each panel
Gajin Fujita’s Game of Drones (GOD) will be on view in the National Academy of Design’s exhibition Kinetic Traces from June 12 to September 13, 2025 in New York.
Angelic Intervention - AI and We Skyscrapin are on view at L.A. Louver in L.A. Louver Celebrates 50 Years through July 26, 2025.
About Gajin Fujita
A native of East Los Angeles, Gajin Fujita (b.1972) received his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design, followed by an MFA from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he studied with esteemed art critic Dave Hickey. Fujita first established himself on the streets of Los Angeles with graffiti crews KGB and K2S, but his earliest artistic influences were informed by his father, who was a painter, and his mother, a conservator of Asian antiques. Fujita’s singular style pulls equally from Japanese and American cultural symbols and themes to construct a realm of unique aesthetic coexistence. The result of this culmination takes the form of gilded surfaces layered with graffiti tags, traditional East Asian iconography, and contemporary Western motifs. Fujita’s work has been exhibited extensively and can be found in the permanent collections of the Getty Research Institute, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Hammer Museum, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art, and LACMA, among many others. In 2019, Fujita received an honorary doctorate from Otis College of Art & Design. He was inducted into the National Academy of Design in 2024.
Gajin Fujita debuted at L.A. Louver in 2001 as part of the gallery’s Rogue Wave program. Since then, Fujita has been featured in six L.A. Louver solo presentations – including 2023’s critically acclaimed exhibition Gajin Fujita: True Colors.
Gajin Fujita, 2016, photography by Jeff McLane