EXHIBITION
The beautiful brightness of life – Japanese Creation Shuho and 3 Artists
The beautiful brightness of life –Shuho Kondo (Japanese Calligrapher) and three artists – Li Aki (Chinese fiddler), Tomosuke Nakayama (oil pain artist) and Akiko Suzuki (kaleidoscope artist)
The Nippon Gallery at The Nippon Club is pleased to host Japanese Calligraphy Master, Shuho Kondo’s 4th exhibition.
This year, Shuho is collaborating with three excellent artists: LI AKI, Chinese fiddler; Tomosuke Nakayama, oil paint artist; and Akiko Suzuki, kaleidoscope artist.
The title of the exhibition, “Kohka,” means “shining.” Letters and words illuminate people, pictures soothe people’s soul, and a kaleidoscope makes people smile like sparkling flowers. The thoughts of each artist will be united through writing, painting and kaleidoscope. We hope you will enjoy the variety of works of art with the sweet sound of Niko, Chinese stringed instrument.
Shuho Kondo (Japanese Calligrapher)
Shuho’s roots can be traced back to Jakuzan Kondo who was the calligraphy and Confucianism teacher of the 14th Tokugawa shogun, Iemochi Tokugawa. Jakuzan was a person of ability not only in calligraphy and Confucianism, but also in other arts, such as painting and music, and these abilities were inherited by Shuho’s father, Rosseki. Shuho is passing on the elegant style of calligraphy of her father, and with her artistic expression making use of various fields of art, she is highly praised both domestically and internationally.
Aki Lee (Chinese Fiddle Player)
Performer of Erhu (Chinese Two-stringed Bowed Musical Instrument). Born in Liaoning China. Director of Japan Erhu Promoter Member and Performer of Peking Opera Organization. Graduate of National Shenyang Music Academy. Member of Changchun Film Studio Orchestra. Graduate of Kobe University, Educational Faculty of Music. Widely Renowned Promoter of Japan-China Culture, Art and Folkways Exchange activities as an Erhu Performer.
Tomosuke Nakanaya (Oil Paint Artist)
1959 Born in Tochigi, Japan
1985 MFA, Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music
1990 First prize, Salon Comparaisons Expositiion d’Art Contemporain Japan-France
2014 Sole exhibition at Espace Pebeo, Gemenos, France
2015 Sole exhibition at Gallery GRK in Paris
2016 Sole exhibition at Daihonzan Myorenji, in Kyoto and dedicated a part of creations Daihonzan Myorenji
2018 Sole exhibition at MAG-Marsiglione Art Gallery in Como Italy
Akiko Suzuki (Kaleidoscope Artist)
2003 Found artistic kaleidoscopes and started to make my own.
2005 Founded Kaleidoscope PHOTON.
2010 First solo exhibition at Miki City Horimitsu Art museum.
2015 Attended BKS convention for the first time.
2017 Created favor kaleidoscope for BKS convention in Kyoto.
2019 Strathmore Kaleidoscope Exhibition Juror Award
Participate in several exhibitions at museums as well as kaleidoscope events at some galleries. Active in promoting kaleidoscopes by doing classes and workshops, especially for children.
| Period | 9/12 (Thu)-9/18 (Wed) |
|---|---|
| Hours | Monday-Friday 10:00-18:00 Saturday 10:00-17:00 Sunday Closed |
| Location | Nippon Gallery Nippon Club 7th Floor 145 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 |
| Admission | Free |
| Detail |
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
~Japanese ZEN Spirit~ Kumiko Misaki String Art Exhibition
Period 9/26 (Thu)-10/1 (Tue)
The Nippon Gallery at The Nippon Club is pleased to host “Japanese ZEN Spirit” by Kumiko Misaki, a string artist who opens up a new genre with her own artistic view.
Often referred to as pin-and-thread art, string art is characterized by an arrangement of colored thread strung between points to form geometric patterns or representational designs such as ship’s sails. Thread or string is wound around a grid of nails hammered in to a wooden board. Through the creation of intricate designs, artists turn a plank of wood into a work of art. Depending on colors and qualities of threads, and ways of nailing, various expressions are possible. Misaki’s string art is characterized by carefully selected colorful threads and novel patterns designed with predominant and delicate techniques and rich sensibility.
Misaki’s first encounter with string art was at the “Itokake Mandala-threadwork mandara” workshop. Mandala is a painting that expresses the world view of Buddhism, but “Itokake Mandara” is an art that is expressed with rich colors by combining multiple symbols such as circles, vortices, and squares in a certain order, regardless of Buddhism. During creating “Itokake Mandala”, creators are said to have the same EEG α-wave as when doing meditation in Zazen, and creators are vividly guided by a comfortable rhythm and deep relaxation. Beginning from threadwork mandara that heals creators themselves Misaki’s works gradually shifted to string art that expresses unconventional images.
A new challenge has begun to explore one of the themes for Misaki, who has been on the path of creating works of art. For Misaki, expression is the process of re-evaluating oneself, renewing the worldview that is not bound by anything, and returning to the truth.
At this exhibition, her unique and colorful works of art that represent the theme of this exhibition: Healing and Harmony will be exhibited. We hope you will enjoy Kumiko Misaki’s creative works of art with nails and threads she strictly selected.
We prepare workshops of “Itocake Mandara – threadwork mandara”, when Misaki is at the Gallery.
We will hold a gallery talk by Misaki featuring a guitar performance by Show Seki who is famous as a guitar player around the world. He plays Japanese folk music, Jazz, Indonesian Gamelan music and other genres of music with just one guitar. The talk and concert will be held on Saturday, September 28 from 3:00 p.m. Admission is free. Please RSVP at yhonda@nipponclub.org.
Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy Kumiko Misaki’s beautiful works of art; they all have imaginations, uniqueness, techniques and artistic creativities.
(Biography)
・Graduated from the Department of Arts, Akashi High School, Hyogo, Japan
・Graduated from the Department of Crafts, Osaka University of Arts, Osaka, Japan
・2014 HEART ART in TOKYO 2014 the 17th AIDS charity art exhibition Won the New Artist of the Year award.『想い』
・2016 HEART ART in TOKYO 2016 the 19th AIDS charity art exhibition won the prize of Japan Foundation for AIDS Prevention.『Rise～上昇～』
・2016 Individual exhibition at Cafe and Gallery COCOKARA∞
・2018 Individual exhibition at Artist Gallery FLORE 『イトカケ』
・2018 NGL Gallery special exhibition 『KU-miko Art』
・2019 special exhibition at Artist Gallery FLORE 『睦月展～美しい和』
