Contemporary Prints inspired by the Ukiyo-e Tradition

On View: March 15, 2003 – May 2, 2003
Saturday, March 15, 2003 from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

We are pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition of prints by printmaker Keiji Shinohara, to be on view at Highpoint from March 15 thru May 2, 2003. Mr. Shinohara is well-known throughout the United States for his mastery of the thousand-year-old Japanese woodcut process known as ukiyo-e, also known as “pictures of the floating world.” Many years of working with this ancient technique has allowed Shinohara to develop his own innovative approach, which fuses traditional aspects of the process with contemporary imagery and use of modern materials. Instead of ridgidly adhering to a specific image when carving the blocks, as is the traditional way, he enjoys working more spontaneously with the unique qualities of the wood. Shinohara’s experimental methods of applying the inks create multi-dimensional, textured effects in the final print, as opposed to the flatness of traditional ukiyo-e prints. The artist’s use of the abstracted image, while working with the time-honored subject of landscape, is yet another example of his distinct way of working. The end result is work where intensely rich, heavily-layered colors belie the seeming simplicity of the image; where the past and present meet and blend harmoniously.

Shinohara was first introduced to this process in his native Japan, in 1975. After spending a number of years as an apprentice under contemporary ukiyo-e printmaker Uesugi Keiichiro, Mr. Shinohara was made a Master Printer in 1981, and moved to the United States in 1985.

In addition to using the ukiyo-e method of printmaking in his own work, he has introduced it to many others through extensive demonstrations and visits at museums and institutes across the country. His work may be found in public collections of Cleveland Museum of Art, the Library of Congress and Fine Art Museum of San Francisco among others. He is currently a Faculty Fellow at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and regularly teaches summer classes at the San Francisco Art Institute. Keiji Shinohara will be on hand at Highpoint to meet guests during the Opening Reception March 15. Also during that week, Mr. Shinohara will be a guest lecturer of the University of Minnesota Department of Art. This special artist visit and show has been arranged with the assistance of Highpoint Board member, and Associate Prof. of Art at the University of Minnesota, Jerald Krepps.