ICN_ukiyo

ukiyo-e & contemporary japonism
Dates: 5 July - 8 September 2012
Private View: 05 July 2012 from 5pm
Opening party: 05 July 2012 from 7-9pm
The authentic natural lifestyle of the people in the Edo period and the cultural
trends and arts sprung from its connectedness to nature strongly influenced
Europe in the late 19th century. The word 'Ukiyo- 浮き世 ' implicates the meaning
of ’ contemporary- 現代 ' . Ukiyo-e therefore can be seen as contemporary
documents, illustrating the Zeitgeist of each era. Now again, contemporary
Japanese manga and anime are causing significant buzz in the Western world,
starting in France naming the new wave "Contemporary Japonism". These
modern day manga illustrators are, like Ukiyo-e artists form the Edo period, called
"Eshi- 絵師”– simply meaning 'painter' and increasingly celebrated as 'genius' and
'superstars' on illustration websites. It is obvious that only the medium has shifted
from analog to digital, baring in mind the concept of printing a multitude copies of
the same image, making both Ukiyo-e and manga illustrations a channel for
pop-culture.
Showcasing both traditional Ukiyo-e woodcut prints and contemporary manga
illustrations, ICN gallery is proud to present selected works from the masters of
landscape printings Hokusai and Hiroshige alongside upcoming modern artists
from the world of anime, manga and gaming centring the theme of 'landscapes'.
We hope that this exhibition will trigger, through exposing Ukiyo-e and modern
illustrations a contemporary japonism movement, yet again.
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GF "Changing Nature - Changing Views"
Japanese landscape prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige
Guest Curator Dr. Monika Hinkel (SOAS/V&A)
The beginning of Japanese landscape prints as a minor motif goes back to the
early phase of Ukiyo-e ( ‘Prints of the floating world’ ) at the beginning of the Edo
period. As an independent genre, landscape prints appeared only in the 1830s,
nearly 200 years after the start of Ukiyo-e history. By then, because of refined
printing techniques and a diverse vocabulary of composition they emerged in a
mature form. The powerful compositions of artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige
freed landscapes from their existence as backgrounds and transformed them into
a main subject matter. The impact of both artists went beyond their own country,
as two decades after their deaths their prints were discovered by artist in Europe,
in particular by the Impressionists and Post Impressionists including Vincent van
Gogh.
Thanks to the extraordinary craftsmanship of the designers, carvers and printers
at The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints in Tokyo, Edo period printing techniques
come to life again in these superb reproductions and make it possible for us today
to enjoy these fresh impressions like the townspeople did back in the Edo period.
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Hokusai Katsushika
“The Great Wave off Kanagawa” (from the series 36 Views of Mt.Fuji)
Hokusai Katsushika
“Asakusa Hongan-ji temple in the Eastern capital”
(from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji)
Hiroshige Utagawa
“Plum Garden at Kameido”
(from the series “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” )
Hiroshige Utagawa
“Bridge Ohashi and Atake in Sudden Shower”
(from the series “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” )
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BF
"Contemporary Japonism"
Modern Japanese digital landscape prints by illustration artists
inucoco,K.Kanehira,neyagi,NTAKE, アカバネ , いそう凪 , うまずら亭 , きぬてん , くろのくろ ,
コーラ , しらび , セキリュウ , やっくん , 吟 , 高田桂 , 小玉 , 神威光司 , 渡辺ヨシ , 波間陸
Curator Hisami Omori(CCC/ NPO hexaproject/ICN)
Japonism was first popularized 150 years ago, and now looking back, it is
understood as having a certain amount of influence on European arts and crafts;
however, it was not one-sidedly passed on from Japan but rather accepted by the
Europeans in the high-art world, after the many years of cultural lockout.
Today, Japanese manga and anime are referred to as “Contemporary Japonism”
and gaining attention again, especially within France. Amongst one part of the
Japanese subcultural world, illustrators are called “Eshi” , just like in the Edo
Period, and their works are flooding the internet.
The word “Ukiyo” means “modern” , and if the Ukiyo-e Eshi of the Edo Period
were expressing the “now” of that era, then one can naturally understand the
world the modern Eshi are trying to depict.
Currently in Japan, a movement of landscape illustration is in progress, which was
originated by the only animation director in the genre of landscape animation
named Makoto Shinkai. His works are like moving "landscape art", and
simultaneously, his attention to detail have a very close resemblance to European
landscape paintings. Although the culture of Japan is thought to be inherently
Japanese, it has resulted through the fusion of many elements. Like in the end of the 19th century, when the European interest in Japan grew
through the Ukiyo-e, we hope this exhibition will bring forth the modern day
Japonism movement once again.
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コーラ 「蛍と夏の夕暮れ」 Cola "Fireflies and summer dusk"
neyagi 「ある、もの」
neyagi "some, things"
くろのくろ「 始発街」 Kuronokuro “the settlement of sorrow”
やっくん 「哀しみの収束点」 Yakkun “city of departure”
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Notes to editors:
Scheduled events:
Gallery Talks (with complimentary AOI green tea for all guests)
19 July 7pm-8pm
"Hokusai & Hiroshige: Masters of Ukiyo-e Landscape prints" by Dr. Monika Hinkel (SOAS/V&A)
2 Aug 7pm-8pm
"Ukiyo-e from the design point of view" by Joe Keating (Designer) & Hisami Omori (Curator)
16 Aug 7pm-8pm
"Japanese Landscape prints: Then & Now" by Dr. Monika Hinkel (SOAS/V&A)
- Edo period (1603 - 1868): For the first time, urban populations had the means and leisure time
to support a new mass culture. Their search for enjoyment became known as ukiyo (the floating
world), an ideal world of fashion, popular entertainment, and the discovery of aesthetic qualities in
objects and actions of everyday life, including sex (shunga).Professional female entertainers
(geisha), music, popular stories, Kabuki and bunraku (puppet theater), poetry, a rich literature, and
art, exemplified by beautiful woodblock prints (known as ukiyo-e), were all part of this flowering of
culture. Now, Edo is called Tokyo.
- Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) : Most famous painter and printmaker of the Edo period.
Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (c. 1831)
which includes the internationally recognized print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, created during the
1820s. Hokusai created the "Thirty-Six Views" both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as
part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji.[3] It was this series, specifically The Great Wave print
and Fuji in Clear Weather, that secured Hokusai’ s fame both in Japan and overseas.
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858): A Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in
that tradition. Hiroshige is especially noted for using unusual vantage points, seasonal allusions,
and striking colors. He adapted Western principles of perspective and receding space to his own
works in order to achieve a sense of realistic depth. Hiroshige’ s The Fifty-three Stations of the
Tōkaidō (1833–1834) and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856–1858) greatly influenced
French Impressionists such as Monet. Vincent Van Gogh copied two of the One Hundred Famous
Views of Edo which were among his collection of ukiyo-e prints.
- about Contemporary Japonism: Through the extensive use of SNS, the digital illustration
scene in Japan is witnessing a new boom. Just as Ukiyo-e artists influenced a whole generation of
young people 250 years ago, now online illustration communities are the ideal platform to foster
superstars and buzz. These superstars very much are contemporary Ukiyo-e artists with the only
change being analogue to digital techniques. Now as in the past, Japanese still enjoy drawing. We
introduce artists from the world of illustration, manga, anime and gaming in Japan. Keeping you in
the loop of contemporary japonism.
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