PAST EXHIBITION

MA: New Traditions in Nihonga

March 15, 2008—April 22, 2008

In honor of “New York: Asia Week,” Dillon Gallery will feature the work of eight contemporary Nihonga painters from Japan. The exhibition, entitled Ma (an interval of space and time), is focused on the broad artistic stratagems used to master compositional space. Finding a distinctive way to pay homage to their heritage, each artist included in this exhibition expands the expressive vocabulary found within the long tradition of Nihonga (Japanese-Style Painting). Bando, Saito, and Kanewaka are able to craft an atmosphere of ethereality in their work: Bando builds up the paint layer by adding ground oyster shell to expose subtle tonal variations of the medium itself; Saito’s delicate strands of color are brought to light in his translucent abstractions; and Kanewaka’s sensitivity to texture is explored in his silver-leaf panels. Using large swathes of muted color, Nakamura creates a sense of depth and movement in his abstract compositions. Yoshiga’s semi-transparent scrolls possess a modern monumentality, yet  ark back to the ancient practice of the decorative screen tradition. Okamura celebrates nature and the abstract concept of harmony with a limited palette consisting of embroidery and Sumi ink (traditional Japanese black ink) on handmade paper. Taking his subject from a work by Chinese poet T'ao Yuan-ming (365-427), Kouzaki shares his vision of a utopia; one that includes unusual creatures inhabiting a bizarre, and vast, continual expanse of space. Mischievous devils frolic in Takishita’s canvases, pronouncing that a playful spirit and lively sensibility are both alive and well in the art of Nihonga. The artists selected for this exhibition have each found a stylistic approach that is as powerful as it is contemporary. While recognizing the conventional principles of the respected technique of Nihonga painting, each artist strives to redefine this ancient art practice.


Nihonga is a technique whose roots extend back more than a thousand years. The term, created in the 19th century to distinguish traditional painting methods from Westerninfluenced art, has often been synonymous with art of the past. Its practitioners incorporate time-honored materials such as silk, rice-paper, ground semi-precious minerals as well as gold and silver leaf into their paintings. Nihonga artists have tended to look to the visual forms and conventions of the past during most of this century. The most recent generation of Nihonga painters, however, has reinvigorated the style in an attempt to change the way the practice is perceived. The eight artists of Ma are the inheritors of a rich past and the harbingers of a dynamic future.

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