E-Seto ceramics; Courtesy Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd.

Tales of Seto: An Exhibition of E-Seto Ceramics
July 25 – August 9, 2024

Contemporary “Seto” ware is renowned for its distinctive glazes and exceptional clay quality, as well as its long history of artistic expression through ceramics. But how did this diversity in modern ceramics emerge?

On July 25th, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. opens Tales of Seto: An Exhibition of E-Seto Ceramics, an exhibition that explores the rich history of Seto ceramics, from the Edo to the Meiji and Showa periods, celebrating the evolution of “E-Seto (絵瀬戸),” which literally means “picture Seto.” This subcategory of Seto ceramics refers to a type of painted ceramic produced in Seto, Aichi Prefecture. The clay sourced from Seto possesses exceptional quality, consisting of kaolin and porcelain-type stone clay. When fired, this clay transforms into a brilliant white canvas, facilitating the creation of a vibrant palette of colored glazes. Experimentation with glazes and a variety of colors—black, white, green, iron red, ash, and blue and white porcelain—are hallmarks of Seto ceramics. Collectors and enthusiasts value E-Seto ceramics for their beauty, craftsmanship, and cultural heritage. Today, E-Seto ceramics continue to symbolize Japanese artistry, reflecting both traditional and contemporary influences.

They warmly welcome you to appreciate the origins of Seto pottery this summer!

To view their new online exhibition catalog, click here.

To learn more, click here.

Yoshitoshi (1839–1892), #45 Hazy Night Moon, From the Series 100 Views of the Moon, 1887, 14.37 x 9.75 in (36.50 x 24.76 cm)

The Art of Japan has just posted over fifty new Japanese prints on their website, including select designs from Yoshitoshi’s 100 Views of the Moon; a fine group of Kiyochika’s horizontal landscape prints; an original Kotondo painting of a bijin in a summer kimono; early Shin Hanga landscape prints by Hasui and Yoshida; 18th c. prints by Kitao Shigemasa, Utamaro and Hokusai; and a selection of deluxe edition prints from Hiroshige’s 100 Views of Edo.

To view these wonderful prints and more on their site, click here.

A Wedding Celebration, c. 1780, Tamil Nadu, Thanjavur, Company School, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper

This week’s Gallery Spotlight shines upon San Francisco-based gallery, Art Passages.  Founded in 2004, Art Passages specializes in Indian and Islamic paintings and works of art. Many of these fine pieces have been placed in significant private collections, as well as in major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and Musee du Quai Branly in Paris.

Their recent show during Asia Week New York in March was an online presentation of Indian paintings exhibiting a wide array of schools and subject matter. Indian Paintings: Latest Acquisitions brought together works from Mughal portraiture to Company School, paintings that reflect the taste and interest of their patrons, such as Nobles, devotees, and English resident rulers of India. Among the highlights was Wedding Celebration, an exquisite Company School watercolor, circa 1788 seen above.

Accompanying their exhibitions are in-depth scholarly catalogs that can all be viewed online here.

Installation view, Future Minded: New Works in the Collection, Special Exhibitions Gallery, Harvard Art Museums

Future Minded: New Works in the Collection
Closing Sunday, July 21, 2024
32 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 

This is the last week to view the Harvard Art Museums’ exhibition, Future Minded: New Works in the Collection, a selection of works acquired in recent years that exemplify their collecting vision and strategies. Nearly all are on display for the first time and staged across two adjacent galleries. This exhibition presents a range of drawings, photographs, prints, paintings, and sculptures spanning centuries and continents. The works are by roughly 30 artists, including Jean (Hans) Arp, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Willie Cole, Pietro Damini, Svenja Deininger, Jeffrey Gibson, Baldwin Lee, Ana Mendieta, Lucia Moholy, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Noriko Saitō, Melissa Shook, Jane Yang-D’Haene, and many others.

The museums are committed to acquiring art that expands the range of artists and cultures represented in the collections; that moves museum practice toward more nuanced understanding of both histories and contemporary issues; and that pushes boundaries and embraces experimentation. Many of the works on view are by living artists, an area of focused growth for the museums.

The galleries are free every day, so be sure to visit and view these newly acquired works before the show closes this Sunday.

To learn more, click here.

Courtesy Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 18th, 5-8pm
Rotations: July 11-August 10 and August 13-September 14

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is delighted to open Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West, a summer exhibition that explores the artistic evolution of East Asian traditions as they spread to the Western art milieu, focusing on the exchange and interaction of visual language and conceptual frameworks between traditional ink art and modern American art.

Presented in two rotations, Transcultural Dialogues showcases works by more than 15 artists, including classical and modern masters Bada Shanren (1626-1705), Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and C.C. Wang (1907-2003), alongside contemporary artists such as Michael Cherney, whose artist language bridges the gap between tradition and the present offering reflections on identity, cultural exchange and the ongoing dialogue between East and West.

This exhibition is in collaboration with Hollis Taggart Gallery in Chelsea with each gallery presenting complimentary shows – one uptown and one downtown. While they will be showing Asian-American Abstraction: Historic to Contemporary, Fu Qiumeng is primarily focused on Chinese art spanning from the early 17th through the 20th centuries and into contemporary times, highlighting the early modernity and abstract quality of traditional ink masters alongside the reinterpretation of literati painting by diasporic Chinese artists who engaged with American Abstract Expressionism and explored notions of abstraction.

The exhibit is on view now, but be sure to join their reception next Thursday evening on July 18th!

To learn more, click here.

Courtesy Ippodo Gallery

We are delighted to showcase Ippodo Gallery for this week’s Gallery Spotlight.  Located on New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood, the gallery was first founded in Tokyo in 1996 and opened stateside in 2008.  Ippodo Gallery is a cultural bridge to Japan’s living master artists and presents fine handcrafted and rare works created using traditional materials and methods. Each piece selected embodies Japanese aesthetic sensitivity that is born of a spiritual bond with nature. Ippodo’s exhibition program features unique objects – fine ceramics, lacquerware, metal crafts, sculpture, paintings, and works on paper – that celebrate human invention, the natural world, and sublime beauty.

Their recent exhibition during Asia Week this March, Cosmic Sound: Master Paintings by Ken Matsubara, was such a success that works from the show entered the respected permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art and Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art.

Ippodo Gallery’s forthcoming Fall exhibition will continue to celebrate innovative and boundary-pushing Japanese artists with a solo presentation of Yukiya Izumita’s ceramics.  Expanding Earth: New Works by Yukiya Izumita will feature the artist’s latest laminate-layered sculptures, flat-folded vases, and tea bowls reminiscent of the rural seascape of the Tohoku region of north-east Japan. They welcome you to the exhibition opening on September 12th and look forward to your visit!

To learn more, click here.

 

 

 

 

Installation view, teamLab: The World of Irreversible Change, Courtesy San Antonio Museum of Art

Lecture: teamLab: Collectivity, Chance, and the Fabric of Urban Japan with Nina Horisaki-Christens
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
6:00 –7:00pm
John L. Santikos Auditorium
Ticket Price: $5.00
Ticket Price Members: Free

On the occasion of San Antonio Museum of Art’s Spring exhibition, The World of Irreversible Change where the digital artwork by international art collective teamLab is presented alongside a seventeenth-century Japanese screen from SAMA’s collection, they are pleased to hold a fascinating lecture about the exhibit with art historian Nina Horisaki-Christens.

Dr. Horisaki-Christens will explore the background of The World of Irreversible Change, teamLab’s digital, animated artwork reminiscent of historic Japanese folding screens depicting bustling cityscapes. The discussion will position the artwork within the Japanese contemporary art scene, the history of technology-based artistic experiments, and rhetorics of chance and change in Japanese art.

Nina Horisaki-Christens is a 2023-24 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Getty Research Institute and holds a PhD from the Department of Art History and Archaeology and the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University. Her research focuses on the intersection of art, media, urbanism, translation, and social engagement in Japan, Asia, and the Asian diaspora.

To register in person, click here.

To register for the livestream, click here.

To learn more and watch teamLab’s artwork in action, click here.

Courtesy The Rubin Museum of Art

West Side Fest
July 12 – 14, 2024
The Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street

Visit The Rubin Museum of Art for this summer’s West Side Fest, a celebration of arts and culture on the West Side of Manhattan. Enjoy exhibition tours, artmaking workshops, and live music performances throughout the museum all weekend long!

Schedule is as follows:

Friday, July 12

6-10pm: K2 Friday Night – Enjoy free admission, cocktails, DJs from the Rāginī Festival, and more!
7:15pm: Guided exhibition tour
7-8pm: Brooklyn Raga Massive – Live performance featuring Indian classical music by musicians from the Brooklyn Maga Massive collective. Tickets = $28

Sat, July 13
11am–5pm: Free Admission to all galleries, including the 20th-anniversary exhibition Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now, featuring new commissions with objects from the Rubin’s collection
2pm & 3pm: Free 30 minute guided Exhibition Tours of the museum-wide exhibition Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now

Sun, July 14
1–3pm: Family Sunday with Free artmaking workshops for families

The West Side Cultural Network (WSCN) is a group of more than 20 museums, parks, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions along the West Side of Manhattan. WSCN aims to ensure New Yorkers and visitors alike know they have access to the myriad, dynamic cultural offerings along the Hudson River and the adjoining neighborhoods.

To learn more about the event, click here.

To learn more about The Rubin Museum of Art, click here.