Last night, I had the privilege of being invited to Go-Somewhere!, the North American debut of 5 Japanese women artists at the Embassy of Japan in Canada. This carefully curated selection celebrates 90 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries and will be touring seven Canadian cities this summer.
These artists are rising stars in the Japanese art world and have already achieved impressive success in Japan. In exchange for sharing their talent with us, these artists get to experience Canadian culture.
The first artist, Mami Yonekura, is an alternative folk artist from the mountains of Nasu. Her work often depicts characters in a state of solitude – the peace and quiet of many things working in harmony. Inspired by Japanese folklore, her paintings invoke the viewer’s imagination. Featured here is a special painting of champion cyclist Giuseppe Marinoni’s bike. The curator of the exhibit, Tony Girardin, had filmed a documentary about how this cyclist attempted to set a world record on a bicycle that he built almost 40 years earlier.
Tsubomi Yonekura is a silversmith from Nasu. Her inspiration comes from the natural world and from moments of inner peace – believing that when the mind and body are in harmony, beautiful objects can be drawn from metal. Featured here is a sculpture of the inside of a raindrop.
Next, Akiko Takeuchi is a contemporary painter from Kumamoto. Instead of painting what she sees, she paints what she feels, often using mixed media, and shades of grey with pops of colour.
In contrast, Tomoko Aso, an oil painter from Fujisawa, paints things that she likes: people, food, and hot springs. She redefines simple scenes through a blend of traditional and contemporary styles, altering dimensions, enhancing gestures, and destabilizing proportions. She brings a new take on the every day.
Kurumi Wakaki is a printmaker and performance artist living in Kyoto. She has a truly unique style – in addition to sometimes using her head as a print block, she is a rare artist who has successfully fused contemporary art with her passion for sports (she just ran a marathon before the exhibit!). She’s quite famous in Japan, but lives a simple life, without social media and with few material possessions. Her artwork often depicts daily life and food. Her images here depict a bento box, eggs, and Hotel Tadoussac.
Also, really neat: the artist drew Ambassador Kimihiro Ishikane’s face on the back of her head for this event!
Speaking of food, I also had the opportunity to try fresh sushi (including fresh scallop sushi, Hotate!) alongside sake from different regions of Japan at this event.
Overall, I highly recommend visiting this exhibit. It runs until August 4, 2019 and you will be able to meet the artists on August 3, 2019 at 2pm.
