September 13 – December 14, 2013

Redefining The Multiple: 13 Japanese Printmakers features the work of artists trained as printmakers who push the boundaries of traditional techniques, and the concept of what a print or multiple is. The artists are: Hideki Kimura (Kyoto), Junji Amano (Kamakura), Kouseki Ono (Tokyo), Koichi Kiyono (Tokyo), Shuji Chiaki (Kyoto), Toshinao Yoshioka (Nagoya), Shunsuke Kano (Osaka), Naruki Oshima (Kyoto), Marie Yoshiki (Kyoto), Nobauki Onishi (Kyoto), Shoji Miyamoto (Osaka), Arata Nojima (Kyoto), and Saori Miyake (Osaka).

The artists approach printmaking adventurously, employing contemporary and historic techniques and media, and expanding traditionally held concepts of what printmaking is, and of what form a print or multiple may take, to explore a wide array of imagery and forms.

The work in Redefining the Multiple employs media including etching, aquatint, monotype, screen-print, photographic processes, woodcut, mixed media, three-dimensional work in felt, cast resin, and video.

A few  examples:

Marie Yoshiko (b. 1982) creates delicate low relief objects by printing countless layers of silkscreen ink, until the ink itself becomes a physical form or object.

Toshinao Yoshioka (b. 1972) creates installations with three-dimensional objects by adhering multiple layers of similar shaped die-cut paper, video cameras and the projected video of the object.

Hideki Kimura (b. 1948) creates monotypes that investigate translucence and opacity by squeegeeing acrylic onto glass.

Shunsuke Kano (b. 1983) creates Lambda prints that pair images of food specific to the Kansia region of Japan with historic and cultural events.

Saori Miyake (b. 1975) experiments with photograms and emulsion to create gelatin silver prints that address the experience of young girls growing up in contemporary Japanese society.

Curated by Sam Yates, director, Ewing Gallery of Art & Architecture, University of Tennessee, and Hideki Kimura, professor of art at Kyoto City University of Arts; traveling exhibition organized by the Ewing Gallery of Art & Architecture, University of Tennessee.

Catalog