Portland sculptor Michihiro Kosuge dies at age 78

Oregonian

Renowned Portland artist Michihiro Kosuge died Oct. 13, according to an obituary published in The Sunday Oregonian.

Kosuge was “a fixture of Portland’s art scene for more than three decades,” a 2013 review in The Oregonian said. His works can be found on the downtown Portland transit mall, Portland State University, The Japanese Gardens, and Leach Botanical Gardens, according to his obituary.

His life partner since 1986 was longtime champion of art in the Northwest, Laura Russo, whose eponymous gallery in Portland often displayed Kosuge’s works. In 2008, then arts critic D.K. Row of The Oregonian wrote: “Kosuge is one of the region’s pre-eminent sculptors. Born in Japan in 1943, he moved to America in 1965 to live the life of an American bohemian artist. He succeeded, eventually teaching art at Portland State University, co-founding Blackfish Gallery, marrying Laura Russo and making sculpture. Kosuge was trained in architecture, and his sculpture has all the characteristics of someone who reveres space, form, texture, materials and the process of making.”

He taught at Portland State University from 1978 until his retirement and was former chair of the department.