The printmakers’ world is rather archaic. There are so many rules as to what is technically a numbered print, one in a series where each is the same, and what is either an “Artist’s Proof” or a mono print, a print which cannot be in a series because it is slightly different from the next in the series. But all that is breaking down and the new show, “Redefining Multiples: Contemporary Japanese Printmakers,” at the Memorial Art Gallery pretty much puts those old ideas to rest. How the heck does the artist who squeegees ink on sheets of glass, and then layers those sheets in a single work, produce a multiple? I gave up trying to figure it out and that is exactly how it should be. So forget about the title of the show and enjoy it.
You can’t improve on nature but you can grab a pretty cool film loop if you fly around a cloud. Toshinao Yoshioka’s “Guidepost 6,” a 2001 dvd is stunning. Not sure how he made that. Naruki Ushima’s inkjet photos are beautiful and would really dress up a corporate boardroom. Gallery visitors are reflected in the glass on his photos and the photos themselves are as much about reflections as the subject of the photos. An interesting play. And I enjoyed watching Judd Williams and Todd Smith check out Junji Amano’s minimalist acrylic, graphite screen prints.
My favorite part of the evening was the Japanese prints that the MAG pulled out of its collection. Tokio Miyashita’s orange woodcut with aquatint, a 3d tour de force, and Hiroyuki Tajima’s “Good Evening” woodcut print. It looked like a primitive hologram. The Johnathin Wintringham saxophone quartet playing Philip Glass in the auditorium and the string duo in the courtyard were both outstanding. We had so much fun at the opening we stayed until the guards started packing up.
Leave a comment