I have been hibernating this week between Christmas and the New Year, spending time reviewing the business end of the past year, and thinking about goals for the coming 12 months. There were a number of gallery highlights for 2010, one of the biggest being the successful move and reopening in our larger, ground floor location in Japantown. I am humbled by the history and peaceful beauty of my new home. The 100-year old fir floors, the old steam pipes that pop and groan, the sound of the piano through my shared wall with the Panama Hotel Teahouse, and my many new neighbors (some of whom I am getting to know by name and others only by sight and a wave while passing by the window), all of it feels very right. I cross my fingers and think of the hard work still ahead that is required to ensure that I remain a part of Nihonmachi going forward into the next decade.
I am also proud of the strong exhibit schedule we offered through the summer and fall. The gallery's second exhibit of Ryohei Tanaka's awesome papercuts was followed by our second show of German moku hanga artist, Eva Pietzcker's atmospheric landscape prints, and Annie Bissett's suite of Japanese woodblock prints of the American Pilgrims was also the gallery's second exhibit of the work of this rising talent. Right now, though January 15, 2011, we have on view a great group of prints by Japan's last great ukiyo-e artist, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). As the economy improves, I hope to increase our exhibits of ukiyo-e and 20th century hanga, which still remain a vital interest of mine, not only for their fascinating beauty, but also as links to the work of artists working in Japanese print & paper media today. In the coming months we will also be introducing through exhibits and adding to the gallery's growing stable, the work of several new artists whose work encompasses drawing, painting, paper cutting, collage, and Japanese woodblock printmaking.
My deep thanks to all of you for your support this year. I have felt it in many and very real ways over these months. I hope that Cullom Gallery can hold your interest in the coming year as we continue to refine and stretch the edges of the Gallery's focus.
With my best wishes for your Year of the Rabbit,
Beth Cullom
Cullom Gallery
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