Exhibition Showcase

Spirited Calligraphy Symposium Performance: Sogen HIrano

Spirited Calligraphy Symposium Performance: Michiko Hamasaki

Spirited Calligraphy Symposium Performance: Tsai Yu-Lung

Seo Jae Wan

Opening Night Reception-First Thursdays Art Walk

Yulong, Mrs. Chen, & Visitor

Hirano

Pollack and Mitchell

Cheryl Goldslegger and Visitors

 

Matsumoto, Gigi Johnson with husband, & Tachibana

Visitors

Matsumoto, Tachibana , Mrs. Chen, & Hamasaki 

Ross, David E. Peterson, & Cynthia Farnell

Faculty member and students

 

Matsumoto and Tachibana

 

Tokoku Harada

Haiku-Cherry Shell

May 2010

5'5 x 2'11

Sumi ink on paper

Triumphantly

May 2010

5'5 x 2'11

Sumi ink on paper

Tokoku Harada was born in the Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1962. He is a receipient of the Mainichi Calligraphy Exhibition Member and Excellence Awards, and the Seikai Kuni Modern Calligraphy Award. Harada is the founder of the Toukousha Calligraphy Study Group. He serves as Lecturer of Comprehensive Art Theory at Chubu University in Japan.

Ritsuun Omote

Detail, Mukuge, -Rose of Sharon

Mukuge, -Rose of Sharon

2010

4' 5.94" x 2' 3.56" (scroll)

Sumi ink on paper

“The function of written characters is to represent the pronunciation of language with simplified symbols that can be used commonly. Thus nowadays, the character types, which are accepted and used throughout the world, are all phonograms or pronunciation-based characters.

However in the late nineteenth century it was learned that characters written on pieces of bone called ryukotu...actually represented a writing system called Oracle Bone Script dating from the Shang Dynasty around 1500 B.C. They were hieroglyphic pictograms and are the earliest appearance of logographic characters...quite peculiar in the world in that they represent both pronunciation and meaning.

Since then, with the passage of time there have been changes, however, the characteristics and aspects found in the earliest writings have remained present to this day, hidden in the abstract art- like aspects of ‘sho’.

[Following] the Second World War...much self-examination was requested of Japan. In ‘sho’...the new idea of ‘Avant garde sho’ appeared. At the same time, in Europe and North America the structure and brush-stroke technique of ‘sho’ triggered a flourish of abstract painting.

[I] hope that this exhibition will serve as a chance for ‘sho’ to spread beyond China, Korea and Japan and bring about another inspired and exciting exchange between the art of East Asia and that of the West.”

Ritsuun Omote is an Avant-garde Calligraphy artist. He is also the Leader of the Gebdosha Group. Omote was born in 1926 in the Toyama Prefecture. In 2009 the artist won First Prize for Japanese Calligraphy Art. Omote has a deep knowledge of classical Chinese, and uses avant-garde form.

Kichung Lee Lizee

Petroglyph Series

May 2010

5'2" x 2'8"

Watercolor on mulberry paper

Petroglyph Detail

"Eastern calligraphy I learned is a living and breathing spirit, rather than the dead and rigid tradition of thousands of years. It is uniquely a form that conveys the pulsation of life energy. Through it, one can experiences all aspects of the living spectrum. Eastern calligraphic form reveals the kind of life the artist has led, as well as manifests the self as a way of life or philosophy of life. It is a powerful art form that operates through direct Intuition. As an artist I rely heavily on creative intuition. Moving with changes in the stream of consciousness, my creative intuition somehow brings out the subconscious and super conscious through artistic expression. Art to me is an expression of an inner world and inner energies in the giving of SELF. The recreation of the world, it brings invisible and inexpressible dimensions to the surface using elements of design. In order to accomplish these purposes I find the brushes and papers of Eastern calligraphy most effective. The brushes and mulberry papers are unforgiving, challenging me to flow with the creative impulse and thereby convey the immediacy, spontaneity and close proximity of an intimate connection with nature. I put my inner energy into these brush strokes. Hopefully, these intentions are conveyed throughout my work.”

Kichung Lee Lizee obtained a BFA from Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA in 1967. She earned a M.S. in Education & Art from Troy State University, AL in 1970.

Tsai Yu-Lung

L2: Retaining Emptiness of Guards' Remainder, Sutra.
2007
5'1 x 9'11
Sumi ink on paper

L12: Expressing Earnesty and Sincerity, Sutra.
2008
5'1 x 9'11
Sumi ink on paper

“Calligraphy, Poem, Painting...alternatively, starting from The ‘Heart Sutra’, a biblical text, which represents a great love spirit in Buddhism, with Chinese brush, ink, paper...a freedom optimistic attitude in my lines and songs from ancient to modern, from past to future, I am writing ‘a line of sentiments’ that connect last generations to next generations.”

Tsai Yu-Lung (China) is native of Taiwan and currently resides in Shanghai, China.  A graduate from Taiwan National University with a MFA 1981 in Western Painting, Mr. Tsai has exhibited both his painting and calligraphy works internationally, including at the Taiwan National Museum (1992), Xu Jiahui Art Museum (2008), Hai Gallery in London (2008), Shinseido Gallery in Tokyo (2009), and Duolun Art Center in Shanhai (2010). 

Tsai Yu-Lung website:  http://www.long123456789.com/en/

History of Cursive Calligraphy: http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh93/calligraphy9310/   

Michiko Hamasaki

Transmigration
August 2000
6'2 x 16'9
Sumi ink on paper.

The two 'sho' activities I am involved in at present are as follows. One of them is creating art works and also organizing my annual private exhibitions within Japan. The other is "cultural communication through 'sho'...I seek to introduce Japanese culture and promote international understanding. ‘Sho’ takes form only when complemented with a refined character. This is because ‘shosen’ captures the heartstrings of the calligrapher, the soul and being of the calligrapher. Therefore, I live my daily routine thoroughly, all the time accepting fully and completely all the feelings that spring from within me, sensitivity, delicately and energetically into my ‘sho’ activities.

“I write a calligraphy at a dash with a gigantic brush (weighing 7kg) soaked with India ink. The brush looks as if it danced rhythmically on the paper. The splashes spurting from the brush tip fly around, making the calligraphy... conspicuous. This is my ‘daijikigo’: writing calligraphy on an extra-large piece of paper (10m by 5m).

The specialty of my calligraphy is giving a demonstration of ‘daijikigo’.”

Michiko Hamazaki was born in Japan and graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University with a BFA and MFA in Calligraphy Art. Since 1995, Mrs. Hamazaki has performed calligraphy demonstrations in Beijing, Tokyo, London, Paris, Kyoto, Spain, Turkey, and the USA. Ms. Hamazaki has presented numerous solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Kyoto and Seoul, and is well known for her large-scale calligraphy work.

Artist Website:  http://www.michinokai.com/english/index.htm

Youtube Performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33N75NGPL7k&NR=1

Kaishu Yanigasawa



Street, 2009, 4'3x11.8", Sumi ink in color on panel.



Reincarnation, 2009, 6'7x1'8 (scroll), Sumi ink in color on panel.

Katherine Mitchell

Art and Meaning, 2009, 4'x4', Acrylic and graphite.

Drawing for My Mother, 2007, 2'1x1'9, Graphite, ink, chine collé and gouache.

“The works on paper began as texts of imaginary conversations or correspondences. For example, one work is a letter of appreciation to my mother. All of the Drawings for My Mother, 2009 were done in a very intense and rapid stream of consciousness style with no editing or revision. The texts were imbedded in the layers of the painting.

The canvases are palimpsests of texts of imagined conversations among a variety of artists, writers and thinkers whom I’ve heard speak recently or whose work I had recently read. These sources include Walter Benjamin, Gerhard Richter, Alice Walker and Philip Glass, among others, as well as my own comments. All of the ideas discussed concern the making of art and its meaning. There is irony in the fact that I am drawn to reveal the verbal content of this work while the texts insist on the dominant importance of form. Art and Meaning includes as the final layer of text a series of questions the answers to which are discussed in the layers beneath.

All of these works explore my interest in the relationship of form and content, meaning, and how art becomes meaningful.”

Katherine Mitchell graduated from the Atlanta College of Art (BFA, 1968) and obtained a MFA from Georgia State University in 1977. Her works reside in the High Museum, the J. B. Speed Museum, MOCA GA, the Arkansas Art Center, Agnes Scott College, and the Carlos Museum. She is represented by Sandler Hudson Gallery.

Artist Website: www.katherinemitchellart.com

Kim Jue Whe

Heart Sutra Written In Chinese Characters, 2007, 6'6.7x 2'11.5 (scroll), Sumi ink on paper. 

Kim Ju Whe is native of Korea and resides in Tokyo, Japan.  A graduate from Daito Bunka University with a MFA in Calligraphy in 1960, Mr. Kim is currently a Ph D. candidate in Calligraphy Art at the Daito Bunka University in Tokyo, Japan.  He is a member of Korean Calligraphy Art Forum, Japan, and Editorial Supervisor of Hipposha, art project publisher based in Tokyo and Seoul, Korea.  Mr. Kim exhibited at the 2005 Seoul Calligraphy Biennial, the World Calligraphy Festival 2006, and had two solo exhibitions at Kyukyo do Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. He is the initiator and the curator of the Spirited Calligraphy Exhibition in the USA in 2008 and in Seoul, Korea in 2009.

Fiona Ross

Ross with "...When We Could Be Diving For Pearls", October 4-6, 2010, Watercolor market, oil-paint marker and graphite.

“My recent series on ink drawings on paper and site specific installations take the form of unicursal, or single line, labyrinths.

The self portraits and landscapes are rendered from a single, unbroken thread of a line, leading the viewer on a predetermined journey through the drawing’s fantastical creatures and situations, making the experience both physical and metaphysical.”

Fiona Ross received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2001 and teaches art at the University of Richmond. Her paintings and drawings are in the collections of Capital One, Wachovia Securities, Markel Corporation and the Republic of Ireland as well as many private collections. Her works have also been featured in many national and international exhibitions and publications and she is a recipient of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Artist Grant.

Artist Website: fiona@fionaross.net
Blog: http://apotropaia.blogspot.com/

Curator Junco Pollack

Kinhin -Walking Meditation #2

2006-2010

3' x 4'

Metallic stitches on fabric collage

Kinhin -Walking Meditation #4

2006-2010

3' x 4'

Metallic stitches on fabric collage

“My art form takes its shape in fabric, light and shadow. My works reflect characteristics of Eastern ink-and-brush painting and Western abstraction. In the studio I reference nature and science through refining perception and applied technology. New technology becomes old in time, replaced by a newer one. Old and new, renewed and recycled all has meaning if applied in the meaningful way, creating work that reflects the spirit of time. Shibori is one traditional dye technology whose principal concept provides underlying three-dimensional shaping, texturing and patterning in my work, along with digital printing and thermoplastic technologies enabling new approach in textile printing.”
 

Junco Pollack is an Associate Professor of Textiles at the Welch School of Art and Design at GSU. Ms. Pollack holds a MFA in Textile Design from RIT1991.  She fuses the East and the West in her art textile work, reflecting her deep appreciation for the Art of Zen, Minimalism, and American Abstract Expression. She has exhibited her work internationally in major cities in 18 countries around the globe, most recently, in the Spirited Calligraphy International Exhibition at the National Calligraphy Museum in Seoul, Korea, Her works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Art and Design, New York and numerous corporate collections in the USA, Japan and Europe.  Ms. Pollack coordinated in 2000 a public lecture and Zen calligraphy demonstration by Zen master Roshi Keido Fukushima, Abbot of Tofuku-ji Temple, Kyoto, Japan, and the Tale of Genji Millennium Lecture: Color, Design, and Ritual in the Heian Court (794-1185) of Japan by Mr. Sachio Yoshioka through the Asian Studies Center of Georgia State University in conjunction with the AAS Annual Conference in Atlanta in 2008.  

Artist Website www.juncosatopollack.com

Carol LeBaron

Calligraphy Veins I, 2010, 2'3.5"x 2'1, Cotton jacquard tapestry.

Calligraphy Veins II, 2010, 2'3.5"x 2'1, Cotton jacquard tapestry.

“My work is a combination of contemporary aesthetic, modern technology, and ancient techniques. These pieces are weavings lifted directly from my sketch journal. The synapse between the neurons in the brain and the hand are spaces in which I create controlled movements, resulting in expressive marks of the brush, each of which holds concentrated energy. Translated onto cloth, the controlled mechanism of the loom allows the energy of the calligraphic mark to remain suspended in time. Jacquards are woven on an industrial loom, thus creating a literal and conceptual opposite to ancient, hand controlled processes.  In the case of the jacquard work, color is created by weave structures.  In this way I can control the amount of reflected and absorbed light. An investigative understanding of structure allows me to manipulate the surface.”

Carol LeBaron is a current professor of Textile at The Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. Her clamped wool and jacquard work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and has won several awards.      

Artist Website http://www.carollebaron.com/

Sogen Hirano

Tayutaumono -That Which Floats In The Air

2006

16.5' x 11.8"

Dyes on cotton

Detail, Tayutaumono -That Which Floats In The Air

“I think, ‘SHOGEI’ is soul drawing (spiritual drawing).”

"With general calligraphy, although a work is written on the topic of a character or language, ‘SHOGEI’ does not stop there. There is a character work, and there is an abstract work, which is separated from a character... If it says more, it has a possibility of also producing the work of art which is separated also from the act of ‘writing’ and which used essence of writing art as the base.

The essence of ‘SHOGEI’ is in the power of the line of a brush.

The form produced by the line of writing differs in a dimension with meant modeling. Into the improvisatorial play of the line of writing, there is a soul of the writer beyond modeling and appearance is projected as it is. There is it in a child's writing. The source of the infinite power connected with the truth of the universe is in the great free play heart.

People are born to each with a precious article. It is the precious article ‘the soul of base’.

‘SHOGEI’ is art with the power which can express it direct most simply rare in the world. When that work of writing is attended with the soul of base, a writer's soul is in sympathy with space nature, and united. It is connected with the universal truth of the universe through ‘SHOGEI’,

I want to connect the soul of people in the world.

It is my dream.”

Sogen Hirano was born in Tokamachi-shi, Niigata in 1961. At the age of 31, Hirano became a Shogei artist. He is  a calligrapher, graphic and fashion designer, and an installation and collaboration performance artist.  He has appeared on CNN, Korean National TV MBC show, and other broadcast events in Japan.  Mr. Hirano also designed official calligraphy emblem work for the 2002 FIFA World Cup poster, and for numerous major corporations, including Suntory, Toyota, and Mitsui Real Estate.  Mr. Hirano has exhibited his calligraphy art works and commercial design works internationally since 1991.  Extending the conventional boundaries of the medium, he has recently collaborated with musicians and dancers in the performances of calligraphy art.  His works are permanently on display in hotel lobbies, theaters, corporate spaces in Japan.    

                              

Artist website www.hiranosogen.jp

Blog http://blog.livedoor.jp/cpiblog00787/