What's Happening in Asian Art...
April 22, 2022
It's Like Breathing- Mio Yamamoto, Asia Society Japan
Online and in-person program
April 25, 8-9:15am Tokyo time/April 24, 7-8:15pm EDT
This month's Art for Breakfast program features Mio Yamato, who will have just returned from Mexico where she had her first artist in residence experience. It’s only been seven years since she graduated from Kyoto University of Art and Design, but her works have been exhibited in Japan, London and Hong Kong. Most recognized is the RED DOT series that emerged from her graduation project. In this series, she starts with a dot on a white canvas without any specific image in mind. But, with that single dot, the empty space becomes meaningful. Using different mediums, her array of works have developed to large installations. Ms. Yamato will introduce her works and talk about her creative processes. She will also discuss the impact of the pandemic which led to creating a new series. And now with her experience in Mexico, we look forward to what lies ahead of her future works.
Read more and register, click here
April 21, 2022
Abung people (Lampung interior), Woman's Ceremonial Skirt, tapis (detail), late 17th-19th century, cotton, silk, metallic-wrapped threads, mirror, embroidery, warp ikat, applique
Archetypes, Aesthetics and Agency: Adat Textiles of Early Indonesian Cultures, Thomas Murray
This program will be presented twice to accommodate different time zones:
#1: Friday evening, April 22, 7pm PDT/10pm EDT/Saturday, April 23, 9am Jakarta & Bangkok
#2: Saturday, April 23, 10am PDT/1pm EDT/5pm GMT
Thomas Murray will participate live in each session for the Q&A.
Sponsored by the Textile Museum Associates of Southern California, this lecture will follow the themes presented in the newly published book, Textiles of Indonesia, and will focus on some of the finest cloths to come out of the archipelago, presenting each object with impeccable photographs. Geographically arranged, this lecture pays particular attention to textiles from the Batak and the Lampung region of Sumatra, the Dayak of Borneo, and the Toraja of Sulawesi, as well as rare textiles from Sumba, Timor and other islands.
To register for talk #1, click here
To register for talk #2, click here
April 21, 2022
TOP LOT: A Massive Sichuan Pottery Horse, Han dynasty, H: 42 1/2 in., sold $35,312
Asian Art Online, Bonhams Los Angeles
Closed April 14, 2022
Bonhams successfully concluded their recent online sale of a diverse array of Asian art, which included property from several private collections. The sale netted a total of $497,340, with buyer's premium and was sold out of the Los Angeles office. The top lot was the large Han-dynasty pottery horse (lot 50), which was formerly owned by the Chinese Porcelain Company, one of the founders of Asia Week New York. Another noteworthy result was a group of 8 Yixing-ware teapots from the Crawford Collection (lot 65). Although offered without reserve and a very modest estimate, the group soared to a sale price of $22,812.
A Group of 8 Yixing Pots and Covers, 20th century, W. of widest: 8 in., sold $22,812
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April 20, 2022
Toshio Tokunaga (born 1952), Vibrato Chair, Triple, Yoshino Cedar, Japanese Zelkova,
H. 37 3/8 x W. 59 1/8 x D. 19 3/4 in. (95x150x50 cm)
Bring Forest Bathing to the Home: Chairs by Toshio Tokunaga, Ippodo Gallery
April 21-May 26
Opening reception, Thursday, April 21, 5-8pm
Toshio Tokunaga (born 1952) is an artist whose expertise in furniture is uniquely attuned to the natural world. Precious Zelkova, mulberry, cherry, and cypress woods are all sourced with passion and dedication from local forests, then dried for decades. The artist delicately familiarizes himself with each rare tree’s individual spirit, allowing him to develop a strong bond with the work and can thus infuse each chair with this warm understanding.
Read more, click here
April 20, 2022
L-R: Kondō Takahiro (born 1958), Wave, 2021, marbleized porcelain, silver mist overglaze, cast glass at Joan B Mirviss and Bingyi, White Clouds and Dark Beasts, 2021, ink on xuan paper at INKstudio
Kondō Takahiro: Making Waves at Joan B Mirviss LTD
Bingyi: Land of Immortals at INKstudio
Last day Friday, April 22
Making Waves presents thirty new sculptures by Kondō Takahiro in swirling whirlpools of black, gray, and white marbleized porcelain glistening with ‘silver mist’ that resembles morning dew. The artist's signature gintekisai (silver mist) overglaze technique finds new expression here as he plays with scale in striking geometric forms that catch light from daring angles. As these works are all going to new homes, this will be the last chance to see an exhibition that was planned for six years.
INKstudio's exhibition consists of new ink paintings by Bingyi, an artist, architectural designer, curator, cultural critic, and social activist, from her site-specific Taihang Mountains series in which she explores the Northern Song landscape tradition.
Shown together in Joan B Mirviss's gallery, the idea for the collaboration was sparked by Bingyi's emotional response to a chance encounter with Kondō Takahiro's ceramics, which he terms “porcelain ink paintings.” As described by Craig Yee, program director and co-founder of INKstudio, the powerful symmetry shared by the work of these two artists, one working in clay and one in ink-on-paper, is that both allow water to be the prominent creative force.
During the run of these exhibitions, online panel discussions were aired that featured each artist and other specialists commenting on the art of each. These videos were recorded and can be watched, click here
Read more about the exhibitions, click here
April 19, 2022
Two Tibetan Painted Paper and Silk Sutra Covers, Qing dynasty, fabric, silk embroidered, each cover:
23 x 6 1/2 in., Estimate: $20,000-30,000
Asian, Ancient, and Ethnographic Works of Art Parts I and II
iGavel
Now online-April 26 and 27
This two-part online auction offers a treasure trove of works of art from China, Japan, Korea, and the Himalayas. The sales include ceramics of many periods and styles, paintings and woodblock prints of various themes and traditions, jades, textiles, furniture, and a rich array of Buddhist sculptures, among many other things. Bidding is available now and will conclude on April 26 for Part I and April 27 for Part II.
Read more, click here
April 19, 2022
Chanoyu: A Taste of Tea, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd
On view now-May 30, 2022
Dai Ichi Gallery is delighted to present a group of teawares this Spring, functional wares representing the art of Chanoyu, the ritual Japanese tea ceremony that involves serving, taking, and drinking of tea. The modern history of Chanoyu carries through the style and grace of tea tradition. Vases, teabowls, water jars, and other functional objects act as aesthetic anchors for the ceremony.
This Spring, Dai Ichi Arts showcases the modern traditions of teaware: a taste of tea. The exhibition focuses on functional pieces, featuring tea bowls, vases, water jars, and functional works by artists: Kato Mami 加藤真美 (born 1963), Goto Hideki 後藤秀樹 (born 1973), Shingu Sayaka 新宮さやか (born 1979), Murata Gen 村田元 (1904-1988), Shimaoka Tatsuzo 島岡達三 (LNT, 1919-2007), Kinjo Jiro 金城次郎 (LNT, 1912-2004), Sugimoto Sadamitsu 杉本貞光 (born 1935), Nakamura Takuo 中村卓夫 (born 1945), and many more.
Read more, click here
April 18, 2022
Dark blue-ground festival kimono decorated with sea creatures, first half 20th century, cloth: cotton; tsutsugaki, (freehand resist), The John R. Van Derlip Fund and the Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation
Thomas Murray is an independent researcher, collector, lecturer, author, and private dealer of Asian and Tribal art with an emphasis on Indonesian sculpture and textiles, as well as animistic art from other varied cultures. Murray lent his expertise to the State Department during the Obama Administration as a member of the president’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee. However, recently it is Murray’s collection of Japanese textiles that have received particular attention.
L-R:Cover of Murray’s 2109 publication Textiles of Japan and Thomas Murray
In early 2019 Murray published Textiles of Japan, a hefty volume that surveys the daily dress, work-wear, and festival garb and follows the Arts and Crafts philosophy of the Mingei Movement, which saw that modernization would leave behind traditional art forms such as the hand-made textiles used by country people, farmers, and fisherman. It presents subtly patterned cotton fabrics, often indigo dyed from the main islands of Honshu and Kyushu, along with garments of the more remote islands: the graphic bark cloth, nettle fiber, and fish skin robes of the aboriginal Ainu in Hokkaido and Sakhalin to the north, and the brilliantly colored cotton kimonos of Okinawa to the far south. Virginia Soenksen, associate director of the Madison Art Collection and James Madison University, and Anna Jackson, keeper of the Asian Department at the V&A, joined as co-authors. Presently, Amazon charts a 4.8 out of 5-star rating for this book. Mindful of how little is known of the textile artists of the past and how the usefulness of their creations meant that many did not survive, Thomas wrote in his book, "First and foremost, this book is dedicated to the anonymous ancestors whose woven artwork we celebrate and to the astonishing artistry of their craft, that their vision may never be forgotten... And to those who preserved these textiles through the generations we owe a great debt, for it is due to their efforts that we enjoy these textiles today, not just as a Japanese cultural expression but as universal cultural heritage."
In March 2019 the Minneapolis Institute of Art announced that they acquired 230 Japanese textiles and objects from Murray’s collection, including the exuberant and one-of-a-kind kimono above, which was hand-drawn and painted with a rice paste resist dye technique and worn to celebrate a bounteous haul of fish. This acquisition, which was part-purchase/part-gift, will be exhibited as Dressed by Nature: Textiles of Japan from June 25-September 11, 2022 and Murray will give a lecture about his experiences as a collector as part of the opening festivities (the specifics will be provided on this website).
Ainu People, Hokkaido, Japan, or Sakhalin, Siberia, Attush Robe, 18th century
In addition to launching a redesigned and engaging new website to feature his gallery’s two online exhibitions, Important Indian, Indonesian and Other Textiles and Masks: Inspiration and Interpretation, Murray also brought a select sample of textiles to New York for this season’s Asia Week. Among his several sales, the striking Attush Robe, shown above, was purchased by the Minneapolis Institute of Art to add to their collection.
Read more, click here
On the subject of Indonesian textiles, about which he published another large catalogue, Thomas Murray will speak in an online lecture this weekend. More details coming soon or read more now, click here
April 17, 2022
Artist Talk: Wonju Seo, Video Release, Korea Society
Wednesday, April 20, 5pm EDT
In Wonju Seo’s hands, the aesthetics, forms, and techniques of bojagi—traditional Korean wrapping cloths—are reconfigured as abstract textile art for a global audience. Seo combines needlework, painting, photography, and other techniques to create contemplative artworks that explore her transcultural identity and life experience. In this online program, she talks about her career and work.
Wonju Seo's work is currently in the exhibition Travelogue at Korea Society. Born and raised in Seoul and now based in the United States, Wonju Seo is an artist and educator who has won numerous awards and exhibited her art in exhibitions throughout the world. Her works are in several permanent institutions in the U.S. and South Korea.
Read more and register, click here
April 16, 2022
Katsukawa Shunkо (1743-1812), Actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Retired Emperor Sutoku, ca. 1775-1785,
color woodblock print, Clarence Buckingham Collection, 1925.2370
The Golden Age of Kabuki Prints, Art Institute of Chicago
Second rotation: April 16-June 26, 2022
The drama of Kabuki theater was most successfully conveyed in the prints of the Katsukawa School of artists because they captured the individual characteristics of each actor. This exhibition is drawn from the more than 700 Katsukawa School prints in the Art Institute’s collection. Along with the dramatic subject matter, Kabuki theater is characterized by its highly stylized postures, movements, hand gestures, facial expressions, even makeup. All these elements are exaggerated to heighten narrative impact.
Read more, click here
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