Tokyo

Ayako Someya, Tomoko Kitada, Yuichi Sakamaki  Calligraphy as Art

2021/4/24–6/5

Tokyo Gallery + BTAP is pleased to present Calligraphy as Art, a group exhibition of Tomoko Kitada, Ayako Someya and Yuichi Sakamaki. To date, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP has hosted a number of modern calligraphy exhibitions, including the Nankoku Hidai exhibitions in 1987 and 2000, the Hokumei Nakano exhibition in 2009, the Michiko Sotobayashi exhibition in 2014, and the Uno Sesson exhibition in 2020.

Today, several generations after Ueda Sōkyū began the avant-garde calligraphy movement, calligraphy is being revived as a contemporary art form. The three calligraphers featured in this exhibition have all played an important role in the movement by way of their attempts to abstract essential elements of the calligraphic artform.

Tomoko Kitada has done away with the idea that calligraphy needs to comprise characters, and rather focuses on the process of making brush strokes—the intrinsic significance of calligraphic expression. Kitada was greatly influenced by Bodies and Organs, a work by the great Michiko Sotobayashi, and holds a degree in calligraphy from the Fine Arts department of Tokyo University of the Arts.

The works of Ayako Someya focus on the qualities of ink and paper, while featuring characters that still resemble characters. I first saw Ayako Someya’s works three years ago at Art Shodo Tokyo 2018, an exhibition I learned about from calligrapher and contemporary artist Takashi Yamamoto. Ayako Someya holds a degree in British and American Cultures from Seitoku Gakuen.

In this exhibition, the works of Yūichi Sakamaki are the only ones that contain legible characters, although because his are installation artworks, the characters do not serve any useful purpose. I selected Sakamaki to be the recipient of the Art Shodo Festa 2020 award. He holds a degree in Information Design from the Fine Arts department of Tama Art University.

As art becomes more global, I believe that we must promote the artform of calligraphy, which has been passed down from generation to generation in Japan (and the rest of East Asia), from a domestic art form to a global one. Japan’s avant-garde calligraphers, including Sokyu Ueda, Nankoku Hidai, and Sesson Uno, pioneered this process. All three artists stood at the crossroads of deciding whether calligraphy would continue as a form of contemporary art as Japan bids farewell the contemporary period.

Hozu Yamamoto, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP


* To combat the spread of Covid-19, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP currently implements reduced opening hours and requires visitors to sign up for their choice of viewing session in advance online. Bookings can be made here.

WORKS

Artist
Ayako Someya
Title
Pectolite
Year
2021
Medium
Ink on paper
Size
90.5 x 182.2 cm
Artist
Ayako Someya
Title
Beryl
Year
2021
Medium
Ink on paper
Size
96.2 x 175 cm
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Artist
Ayako Someya
Title
Pyrophyllite
Year
2021
Medium
Ink on paper
Size
121 x 90.7 cm
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Artist
Ayako Someya
Title
Pyrophyllite
Year
2021
Medium
Ink on paper
Size
60.2 x 45.2 cm
Artist
Ayako Someya
Title
CO2
Year
2019
Medium
Ink on paper
Size
34.5 x 35 cm
Artist
Tomoko Kitada
Title
Work
Year
2021
Medium
Acrylic on wood panel
Size
91.0 x 116.7 cm
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Artist
Tomoko Kitada
Title
Work
Year
2021
Medium
Acrylic on wood panel
Size
80.3 x 100 cm
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Artist
Tomoko Kitada
Title
Work
Year
2021
Medium
Acrylic on wood panel
Size
100 x 80.3 cm
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Artist
Tomoko Kitada
Title
Work
Year
2021
Medium
Acrylic, ink, wood panel
Size
91.0 x 116.7 cm
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Artist
Tomoko Kitada
Title
Work
Year
2021
Medium
Acrylic, ink, cement, wood panel
Size
60.6 x 72.7 cm
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Artist
Tomoko Kitada
Title
Work
Year
2018
Medium
Acrylic paint, coffee beans, starch paste, canvas
Size
45.5 x 38.0 cm
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Artist
Yūichi Sakamaki
Title
Tokyo Gallery (Set of 98)
Year
2021
Medium
Paper, seal paste
Size
2.5 x 2.5 cm (each)
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Artist
Yuichi Sakamaki
Title
Tokyo Gallery (Limited 98 Pieces)
Year
2021
Medium
Paper, seal paste
Size
2.5 x 2.5 cm (each)
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Artist
Yuichi Sakamaki
Title
Uchiwa
Year
2021
Medium
Permanent marker on cardboard
Size
27 x 29 cm
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Ayako Someya

Born in Tokyo in 1981, Ayako Someya obtained a degree in English language and literature from Seitoku University before embarking on the study of classical calligraphy in 2007. After participating in Zero Art, a 2014 group exhibition at hpgrp New York featuring works by Japanese artists, Someya was involved in producing a catalogue raisonné on Inoue Yūichi, an experience that both taught her to view calligraphy as art and marked the beginning of her creative career. They were also exhibited at Calligraphy as Art, a group exhibition held at Tokyo Gallery+BTAP that included Yūichi Sakamaki and Tomoko Kitada. In 2023, Someya held her first solo exhibition, As if to Breathe, at Tokyo Gallery.

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