Installation view, Fluid Strength: The Art of Ink

Fluid Strength: The Art of Ink
Closing Saturday, May 3, 2025
65 East 80th Street

There’s still time to experience Fluid Strength: The Art of Ink at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art before it closes May 3! This remarkable group exhibition explores the profound philosophical connotations of water-based ink as a medium, rooted in the Daoist concept of softness, yielding, and resilience. In East Asian art history, water and ink symbolize Yin energy—gentle yet powerful, nourishing and sustaining all life. This principle is vividly expressed in Daoist thought: “Water flows without contention, achieving great deeds by simply being natural.”

Water’s ability to adapt, nurture, and overcome reflects an essential worldview that has shaped Chinese culture, art, and philosophy for centuries. From ancient calligraphy and landscape painting to contemporary expressions, ink art embodies this enduring perspective, flowing across time and geography—from East Asia to the West. By bringing together works from different historical periods and artistic approaches, Fluid Strength highlights how ink art navigates between tradition and innovation, bridging philosophy and artistic practice. Fu Qiumeng Fine Art invites visitors to explore the resilience and adaptability of ink, and its evolving significance across cultures.

In conjunction with the exhibition, they also presented a two-part artist talk series—Ink Art: The Past in the Present and Tradition Across Borders: A Transcultural Exchange—featuring six visionary artists who explore the dynamic relationship between heritage and contemporary expression in Asian and transcultural art. Whether you missed the live sessions or would like to revisit the conversations, you can now stream both events on their website!

To stream the artist talks, click here.

To learn more about the exhibition, click here.

Installation view, Takashi Seto: Moments of Arrival

Takashi Seto: Moments of Arrival
Closing Saturday, May 3, 2025
525 West 26th Street

Don’t miss the final days of Takashi Seto: Moments of Arrival, the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York, on view at Seizan Gallery through May 3! Showcasing fifteen recent works on canvas, the exhibition highlights Seto’s mastery of Yuzen fabric dyeing and Shippaku metal leaf techniques — the traditional craft methods he revives and reinterprets. Blending historical craft with contemporary themes, Seto transforms ephemeral materials into meditative works that explore heritage, symbolism, and time, balancing tradition with innovation.

To learn more, click here.

Photo: (Auster, left) ©Spencer Ostrander, (Leiter, right) Robert Freson, Saul Leiter, c. 1965

Special Talk
NEW YORK THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY AND LANGUAGE: Paul Auster and Saul Leite
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 6pm
Exhibition: May 7 – 17,  2025

Featuring:
Margit Erb – Director, Saul Leiter Foundation
Michael Parillo – Director, Saul Leiter Foundation
Siri Hustvedt – Writer
Sam Messer – Artist
Motoyuki Shibata – English-to-Japanese Translator, Writer
Pauline Vermare – Phillip and Edith Leonian Curator of Photography, Brooklyn Museum

The gallery also invites you to a special evening honoring Paul Auster and Saul Leiter—two artists who reimagined New York City in deeply personal ways through their work on Wednesday, May 7.

In commemoration of the first anniversary of Paul Auster’s passing, they welcome a distinguished group of speakers—close collaborators and longtime friends of the acclaimed writer: Siri Hustvedt, author and Auster’s partner; Sam Messer, celebrated painter and longtime friend; and Motoyuki Shibata, renowned translator of most of Auster’s titles in Japanese.

Though Paul Auster and Saul Leiter never met—Leiter having been born 25 years earlier—their words and images seem to echo each other. They were combined in the publication It Don’t Mean a Thing (The Gould Collection) in 2017. Both artists have built enduring communities of admirers, not only in New York but around the world, particularly in France and in Japan. Joining the conversation are Margit Erb and Michael Parillo of the Saul Leiter Foundation, along with Pauline Vermare of the Brooklyn Museum. Together, they will discuss the connections and resonances between the writer and the photographer.

The talk will be accompanied by an exhibition featuring selected prints by Saul Leiter, paintings and prints by Sam Messer, and portraits of Auster by the photographer Spencer Ostrander, Auster son-in-law. Together, they had collaborated on an acclaimed publication focusing on gun violence in America: Bloodbath Nation. (Grove Press, 2023). The exhibition will be on view from May 7 through May 17.

Copies of The Gould Collection Volume 2: Saul Leiter & Paul Auster (reprint edition) and recent issues of MONKEY New Writing from Japan will be available for purchase at the event.

To learn more, click here.

Keiko Arai, Zone B, 2025, sumi ink on washi paper mounted on wood panel, 38.2 x 41.3 x 1.4 in (97 x 105 x 3.5 cm)

KEIKO ARAI: INKSCAPE
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 8 from 6-8pm
May 8 – June 21, 2025

Also be sure to mark your calendar for their upcoming exhibition, KEIKO ARAI: INKSCAPE, on view from May 8 through June 21. This marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in the United States and features a wide-ranging survey of works created using a single pigment—sumi ink—on washi paper. Through experimental techniques that challenge traditional practices, Arai reshapes sumi ink painting, a practice with roots stretching back over a thousand years in East Asian art history, while exploring the expressive possibilities of monochromatic abstraction.

The exhibition features over twenty-two works from Arai’s ongoing series, including Zone and Now and Then. Zone presents contemplative yet playful abstractions, composed of biomorphic shapes that resemble organelles seen through a microscope or fragments of satellite images capturing isolated islands adrift in the ocean. While traditional sumi ink art is often defined by bold brushstrokes that express spontaneity and momentum, Arai takes a contrasting approach in this series. She begins by wetting washi paper with sumi ink, then masks selected areas using cutouts of various materials. This method slows the drying process—sometimes taking an entire day—resulting in forms with organic contours and rich, unpredictable textures. Through this repetitive and immersive process, Arai creates ink fields that are deeply personal and visually distinctive.

The exhibition also includes a series of paintings in which Arai combines sumi ink with unconventional organic materials—such as exhausted indigo dye to create brown hues, and bronze patina for green tones. Another series features sculptural works, where she constructs washi paper in dimensional forms mounted on traditional scrolls.

They look forward to welcoming you the opening reception soon!

To learn more, click here.

Courtesy Scholten Japanese Art

Binnie Meisho
May 1 – 30, 2025
145 West 58th Street, Suite 6D

Scholten Japanese Art is pleased to present Binnie Meisho, an exhibition of landscape woodblock prints and paintings by Paul Binnie, celebrating the release of El Capitan, the latest addition to his ongoing series Travels with the Master, opening May 1!

Binnie Meisho includes over 70 landscape oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and woodblock prints, featuring scenes that Binnie depicted from his many travels; including his years in Japan where he honed his woodblock printmaking practice, to famous sites in the US and Europe that he visited while following in the footsteps of his artistic mentor, Hiroshi Yoshida for his Travels with the Master series, to images of his homeland, Scotland, and Black’s Beach in San Diego, California, where he now resides.

Explore the full collection of these exceptional works online by clicking here.

Installation view, Ishikawa Kyuyoh Exhibition, Kyoto

Ishikawa Kyuyoh Exhibition
Part I: April 18 – May 15, 2025
Part II: May 17 – June 14, 2025
Shibunkaku Kyoto

This spring, Shibunkaku is proud to host an exhibition focusing on the art of Ishikawa Kyuyoh, one of Japan’s leading contemporary calligraphers.

Ishikawa Kyuyoh’s works capture the essence embedded in words, drawing from the rich history cultivated in East Asia, and present it to us as a living expression. His calligraphy exudes a unique presence with its delicate yet overwhelming power. This exhibition is divided into two parts and is unprecedented in scale for our gallery.

Part I, starting from April 18, will feature representative works from the 1970s “Gray Era,” as well as his monumental series Tale of Genji I, consisting of fifty-five full chapters, which challenged classical literature while rejecting established calligraphic sentiment.

Part II, beginning on May 17, will offer a comprehensive overview of Ishikawa Kyuyoh’s representative works from each era, showcasing his artistic journey from the earliest creations to his latest masterpieces.

They warmly invite you to visit the exhibition and immerse yourself in the history and world of Ishikawa Kyuyoh’s unique expression.

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, Echoes of Unseen, Ginza

Echoes of Unseen
April 18 – 26, 2025
Shibunkaku Ginza

They are also pleased to present Echoes of Unseen, the solo exhibition by up-and-coming photographer Yamagami Shimpei. This will be the second time the exhibition has been held, and will feature only large-format works, a first for the artist.

While staying at SAGA HOUSE, Yamagami placed himself in the harsh winter of Saga, attempting to capture something invisible. The resulting works convey what the artist felt vividly deep in his heart, and resonate deeply with the viewer, allowing us to feel the breath of life that resides in all things.

In February, the exhibition was held at SAGA HOUSE and it is now showing at Shibunkaku Ginza through April 26th.

They look forward to seeing you there!

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, Curatorial Vignette: Demons & Monsters at TAI… Oh My!

Curatorial Vignette: Demons & Monsters at TAI… Oh My!
Closing Saturday, April 26, 2025
1601 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM

These are the final days to catch Demons & Monsters at TAI… Oh My! at TAI Modern before it closes on April 26! This curatorial vignette features the shapeshifting Japanese bamboo art of Kawashima Shigeo from the gallery’s collection, contemporary pop art paintings of Japanese monsters in their plastic worlds by Joel Nakamura, and Zen ink brush paintings of supernatural creatures and yōkai by Barbara Riley.

Though formal study of yōkai is still emerging (there’s not even a fixed definition for the term, which hovers somewhere between demon and monster), TAI Modern invites local New Mexican artists Joel Nakamura and Barbara Riley to showcase their interpretation of yōkai culture alongside the whisper-thin abstract bamboo works of Kawashima Shigeo.

Kawashima Shigeo admits that, when he was a young man, he wanted to “Live in a remote place like a mountain hermit.” But it wasn’t until he was twenty-seven years old that bamboo came into his life as an artistic expression. He generally doesn’t weave with it, as is the traditional technique, but allows it to find form through tying knots with rattan to hold the tangles into a form. The result is a feral, light, expressionistic take on contemporary Japanese bamboo sculpture.

Joel Nakamura is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with myths and legends within a blend of folk art and neo-primitive painting techniques. In addition to being an accomplished children’s book writer and illustrator, he has taken commissions from Time Magazine, US News & World Report, and the Los Angeles Times.

Barbara Riley worked as a freelance writer and editor for over half her life but spent time throughout working in a more formal sphere to copy paintings from hundreds of books in her library—from Korean Modernism, classical Chinese landscapes, to Japanese Zenga. This allowed her to find space for expression and originality in the traditional art of sumi-e ink painting.

Bringing painting together with sculptural forms, Demons & Monsters at TAI… Oh My! explores the relationship between mythology and technique. Expect a wild, immersive experience—complete with a raucous parade of traditional Japanese yokai in the form of Hyakki Yagyō (the night procession of one hundred demons) marching right across the gallery walls. Don’t miss it!

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, Reconstructed Realities: Gu Gan, Lee Chun-yi, Wucius Wong

Reconstructed Realities: Gu Gan, Lee Chun-yi, Wucius Wong
Closing Saturday, April 26, 2025
120 East 65th Street

This is the final week to catch Reconstructed Realities, featuring the work of Gu Gan, Lee Chun-Yi, and Wucius Wong at Alisan Fine Arts before it closes on April 26! True pioneers of ink art, these three artists took radical approaches to traditional styles of calligraphy, composition and methodology in their work. Their practices have been instrumental in bringing the ink tradition into the global contemporary art conversation.

Experience the innovation and mastery of these three ink art pioneers before the show closes!

To learn more, click here.

Painting as Method: Yifan Jiang, Mimi Chen Ting, and Kelly Wang
May 1 – June 21, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 1, 6-8pm
120 East 65th Street

Mark your calendar for Painting as Method, featuring the work of Mimi Chen Ting, Kelly Wang, and Yifan Jiang, opening May 1! These three Asian American artists engage in drastically different practices, but each of them employs a novel approach to painting within their work. Mimi Chen Ting’s abstract paintings contrast with the surreal, figurative works by Yifan Jiang, while Kelly Wang’s mixed media works infuse traditional Chinese ink and paper with contemporary industrial materials.

They look forward to welcoming you soon to the opening reception!

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, BEYOND THE SURFACE: The Unity of Form and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro (1944-2008)

BEYOND THE SURFACE: The Unity of Form and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro (1944-2008)
Closing Friday, April 25, 2025
39 East 78th Street, Suite 401

These are the final days to experience BEYOND THE SURFACE: The Unity of Form and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro (1944-2008) at Joan B Mirviss LTD before it closes on April 25!

Fifteen years in the making, this landmark exhibition is the first comprehensive retrospective of seminal clay master Wada Morihiro. Featuring seventy works—most acquired directly from the artist’s estate—it highlights the full range of his dynamic forms and intricate surface patterns. Among the works are eleven rare pieces originally intended for Wada’s 2008 solo show at the gallery, which was postponed due to his untimely passing. Two of these, featuring a unique entwining-vine motif, have never been seen outside Japan. Thanks to the dedication of the Wada family, these works were preserved and made available for this historic presentation at Joan B Mirviss LTD.

A fully illustrated, bilingual catalogue with essays by four leading Japanese scholars accompanies the exhibition and is available for purchase.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience the legacy of a true master of clay!

To learn more, click here.

(Left): Aya Fujioka, Here Goes River (112), 2017, edition 3 of 8, chromogenic print, 25.8 x 39 in (65.5 x 99 cm); 29 x 42.5 in (73.7 x 108 cm) framed; (Right): Alexa Hoyer, Dish on Tube, 2017, edition of 10, 2 AP, archival pigment print, 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)

Artist Focus: Aya Fujioka and Alexa Hoyer
On view in Project Space
525 West 26th Street, NYC

Seizan Gallery is pleased to present the works of two visionary female photographers, Aya Fujioka and Alexa Hoyer. Signature series by both artists are currently on view in the gallery’s project space, offering distinct yet complementary perspectives on place, memory, and overlooked narratives.

Aya Fujioka is a quiet master of capturing the everyday. Her work bypasses the pursuit of a single “decisive moment,” instead embracing a succession of peripheral, intimate scenes. These seemingly mundane images form subtle narratives, either revealing a relationship between artist and subject or liberating the subject from traditional storytelling. Fujioka’s approach is deeply rooted in Japan’s “Shashinshu” tradition—a form of photobook regarded not as a supplement to an exhibition but as an art object in its own right. In contrast to Western photobooks, often treated as catalogs or archival records, the Japanese Shashinshu is a storytelling medium where meaning is built through a sequence of images. Fujioka has published several of these with AKAAKA, a leading Japanese art publisher specializing in this genre.

Alexa Hoyer is a visual artist and curator whose photographic projects explore overlooked or ephemeral aspects of both urban and rural environments, capturing unexpected narratives found in public and often unconventional spaces. Based in New York City, Hoyer has explored a wide range of subjects—from handmade window displays in Havana (Montaje al Aire), to boarded-up storefronts during Manhattan’s COVID-19 lockdown (Window Dressing), to the curious emptiness of Queens’ tree beds (Fallow Frames). These projects often involve local communities and highlight the interplay between improvisation, identity, and environment.

​​To learn more, click here.