International ink painting exhibition announcement
The 22nd International Art Exhibition (Art beyond boundaries) for ink artists from around the world is opening this week. From January 23 until February 2, you can see the latest in contemporary ink at the National Art Center Tokyo.
After “Night Rain at Kenrokuen” in 2024, my contribution to this year’s display is “Returning Sails at Utasu Shrine”. “Returning Sails” is the fifth scroll in the “Eight Views of Kanazawa in Winter” series. I will be at Gallery 2A of the National Art Center in Roppongi on the afternoon of January 30.
The Eight Views of Kanazawa in Winter Series
For nearly five years, I have been capturing the beauty of Kanazawa and Ishikawa prefecture with my brushes. A mix of studies and smaller scale works support the development of this landscape series.
This series follows a very traditional format in ink painting – the Eight Views (八景). Usually this format showcases eight locations in a region through four seasons of the year. However, I chose to narrow my focus to the winter season. Aiming to achieve a similar variety of landscape scenes from within the boundaries of a single season. It has its challenges, but they are exciting ones.
For those of you familiar with the “Eight Views” topic, from woodblock prints or temple paintings, you will recall that the themes in this group are fixed, as follows:
Clearing Weather, Autumn Moon, Descending Geese, Night Rain, Returning Sails, Evening Snow, Evening Bell, Evening Glow
Since our series is set in winter, “Autumn Moon” has been replaced with a “Winter Moon” scene. All other themes remain the same. Some of the themes are easy to identify visually, others are more metaphorical. “Winter Moon” is clearly among the first, “Descending Geese” the second.
Here is the current list of themes completed and the years they were displayed in Tokyo:
- Clearing Weather at Higashichaya, 2022
- Winter Moon at Kanazawa Castle, 2022 (International Honour Art Award)
- Descending Geese at the Eastern Gate of Oyama Shrine, 2023 (Encouragement Award)
- Night Rain at Kenrokuen, 2024 (International Honour Art Award)
- Returning Sails at Utasu Shrine, 2025
There are currently three paintings outstanding in the series. Or are there? Read on to find out.
about “Returning Sails at Utasu Shrine”
“Returning Sails” is set at Utasu Shrine, on the day of Setsubun Festival. In 2023, the Setsubun Festival marked not only the end of winter, but also the first time since 2020 that musical performances and the bean-throwing ceremony happened before a live audience. Many TV crews were on site recording the moment. I was lucky to meet a local artist savvy enough to plan for an early arrival to the shrine. From our place near the center of the grounds I made a few rapid sketches. I also took the photos that became references for “Returning Sails”.
Many performances caught my eye, but I found the shamisen group particularly moving. Featuring different generations of women playing together, one could feel the mix of seriousness and joy in the performance. As they raised their arms, be it to reach the upper part of the musical instrument or to hold a paper umbrella while dancing, the sleeves of their kimonos trailed and fluttered. Long sleeves, large panels of colourful cloth floating before the audience’s eyes for the first time after what must have felt like a very long absence. The joy of a safe return to the stage for the young and the older in the group. “Returning Sails” at the end of a long, cold winter.
I painted this scroll in Tokyo in 2024, again under the guidance of Kobayashi Tohun Sensei. I am very grateful for his support since 2020 with this ongoing series.
It is January 2025, and while you are looking at this scene, I am about to finish scroll number 08. By the time I join the exhibition in Tokyo on January 30 the series of “Eight Views of Kanazawa in Winter” will be complete. And ready for the display as a full set for the first time. Another announcement is coming very, very soon..
How to visit:
All the exhibition details available at:
https://www.nact.jp/english/exhibition_public/ (English), venue 2A
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