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Fresh from my Inbox, is this mention of what looks to be an incredible up-coming show of woodblock prints by ukiyo-e master, Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861).
"LONDON - The Royal Academy of Arts will present an exhibition on one of the greatest Japanese print artists, Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861). Featuring over 150 works, the exhibition will present Kuniyoshi as a master of imaginative design. It will reveal the graphic power and beauty of his prints across an unprecedented range of subjects highlighting his ingenuous use of the triptych format. The majority of the exhibition will be drawn from the outstanding collection of Professor Arthur R. Miller which has recently been donated to the American Friends of the British Museum. This is the first major exhibition in the United Kingdom on Utagawa Kuniyoshi since 1961, on view 21 March through 7 June, 2009." (photo caption - "Sakata Kaido-maru wrestles with a giant carp" c. 1837...American Friends of the British Museum (The Arthur R. Miller Collection) More information at the Royal Academy and Art Knowledge News.
I'm so pleased with my new winter exhibit at Cullom Gallery of Japanese woodblock prints by Berlin artist, Eva Pietzcker. This show of 17 color and black and white landscape prints (and one delightfully domestic still life of apples and geraniums) will open tomorrow night, February 5th, with a preview from 6 - 8 pm. If you are in Seattle, please come down and see Eva's prints in person!
With the new year, I'll be adding several additional contemporary artists to the mix at Cullom Gallery. As I've mentioned here before, I am keen to show my audience, though my exhibits and general offerings, artistic links from the present back to the olden days of Japanese prints and from the old back to the present and everything in between.
In Eva's prints, I see an exciting buzz between traditions of composition found in ukiyo-e landscape prints (and as a client suggested last week, maybe Huan Dynasty landscape painting?) and Eva's own modern and minimal, sometimes stylized, approach to landscape.
This group of prints covers the years 2003 to the present and includes prints produced during the artist's residencies in Japan and Canada, along with scenes of her own Berlin. (Pietzcker also spent some time in China on an independent study of traditional Chinese paper making techniques and in Indonesia for an artist's residency - both trips inspiring additional print designs.)
In a statement for Toronto's Open Studio's webiste, Eva wrote, "I try to omit 'unimportant' parts and to reveal the essences while reducing information- without killing off the vibrancy of the work. I try to achieve that by oscillating between simplicity and complexity, black-and-white and colour, abstraction and narration."
In 2001, she established the printmaking studio "drucktelle" with partner Miriam Zegrer (the studio has just recently closed) for the purpose of research into and teaching courses on printmaking techniques, with the aim of using non-toxic material as much as possible. Pietzcker continues teaching printmaking courses independently and at several art academies in Germany. Her prints have been shown in solo and group exhibits throughout Germany, the United States, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Poland, Canada, Japan, and Indonesia. Most recently in 2008 she was part of the California Society of Printmaker's exhibit in Pacific Grove, CA, (she's been a member since 2006); and exhibited as a member of the artist group ' Nagasawa Ten' in the exhibit, "A Time and a Place" which traveled to both Amsterdam's Grafisch Atelier, and Deco Gallery, Tallinn, Estonia. In 2007, Pietzcker served as visiting artist at Open Studio, Toronto, Canada, and at The Print Studio, Hamilton Canada. In 2003 and 2004 Pietzcker was Artist-in-Residence at Nagasawa Art Park, Japan and Tsuna-Cho, Japan, respectively.
The show will be featured in a special online exhibit (by tomorrow afternoon) one the gallery's website at www.cullomgallery.com. The exhibit will continue on the gallery walls through March 30, but hopefully, Eva's prints will become a perennial offering at this gallery!
Just found this blog post about Meiji period monster prints. Great designs and some of the best impressions of this type of print I've seen. Here's my favorite from the post.
We had a great turn out last Thursday and Saturday for Annie Bissett's reception and talk. Thanks to all of you who made it a special week! I wanted to pass on the good news that Annie's print, Borders #1-U.S./Mexico, has just been accepted into the Boston Printmakers 2009 North American Print Biennial, which opens February 15, 2009 at Boston University! Go, Annie!
For those of you in Seattle this week, there are two chances to meet Massachusetts printmaker, Annie Bissett, whose exhibit is on the walls at Cullom Gallery through November 1st.
Gallery Walk Reception with Annie Bissett, 10/2, 6-8 pm.Thursday is the night of Seattle's monthly Gallery Walk. Come down and see the show, Annie Bissett: moku hanga, far away, up close, and meet Annie!
Artist's Talk with Annie Bissett, 10/4, 2 pmThen on Saturday, I'll be hosting a talk with Annie Bissett at Cullom Gallery at 2 pm. Annie will talk about her contemporary approach to the ages-old art of Japanese woodblock printmaking, and her thoughts about her commercial illustration work versus printmaking. Come with your own questions for Annie, bring a friend, and stay for a glass of wine; everyone is welcome!
I'm happy to say that after a packed month of preparation during August, Cullom Gallery opened on September 4th, the fist solo of exhibit of contemporary moku hanga (Japanese style woodblock prints) by Northampton, Massachusetts artist, Annie Bissett.
I met Annie last year while searching the web for contemporary Japanese woodblock printmakers. I probably looked at the work of over 200 artists; Annie's and names of a few others made it onto one small piece of paper. What I particularly like about Annie's prints is how beautifully made they are and, in their craftsmanship, how tied they are to the tradition of Japanese printmaking, yet how different the content is! As I move further into contemporary prints, I'm not interested in prints and printmakers who are just regurgitating the hackneyed styles and subjects of 19th and 20th century Japanese prints. Japanese printmaking has a long history that includes periods of both inspired growth and predictable commercialism. Whether it's Hokusai's genius at capturing humanity and humor in his ukiyo-e, or the exciting nascent years of the sosaku hanga movement before the War, or today, printmakers like Annie Bissett, who aren't just making one more print of giant koi or thatched-roof farmhouses. These are the prints and the artists I'm after, those learning from the old tradition, but who expand upon it. In the end, these are the artist's that keep Japanese printmaking alive.
The Annie Bissett exhibit, which runs through November 1st, includes prints from 2006 to the present. It's remarkable to consider that Annie has only been making prints for three years, after taking a printmaking class with New Hampshire printmaker, Matt Brown in 2005. Prior to printmaking, Annie had spent several decades as a successful commercial illustrator with clients like the National Geographic Society, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. She continues her illustration career while working printmaking time around illustration work. Her own practice of meditation also played into the content of some of her early work, while more recent prints are driven by Annie's interest in mapping, locations, and the human impact, for better or for worse, upon a place. Earlier this year she completed a triptych called Three Prophets: tall narrow prints that start with satellite views of Bethlehem, Mecca, and Lumbini - the birth places of Jesus, Mohammed, and the Buddha. Over the maps Annie places symbols and texts that add the human layer to the place. Annie uses the same approach in another print that tells the historic tale of the U.S./Mexico border - the first of what will be a multi-print series of famous, or infamous, borders of the world.
Response has to Annie's prints been great thus far. Prints from all editions are still available, though just a few are left in some cases. I'm also excited that Annie will be in Seattle for the exhibit's October 2nd reception from 6-8 pm at Cullom Gallery. She will then stick around Seattle and be back in the Gallery Saturday afternoon,
October 4th for an artist's talk at the Gallery at 2 pm. Please give the Gallery a call at 206.919.8278 if you can make it, or just stop by too.
Eva Pietzcker's show of 18 color and black-and-white Japanese woodblock prints continues through March 30th at Cullom Gallery, and we're kicking off it's second month with a reception tonight at the Gallery, from 6 - 8 pm during the Pioneer Square Gallery Walk.
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