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.
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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.