Takezasa-Do, The Ancient Art of Woodblock Printing

Annex Gallery
July 10 through September 26, 2009

A public reception will be held during
Gallery Night, Friday, August 21, 2009 from 7–10 p.m.

A short film in which Yuko Harada demonstrates the printing process can be seen online at http://bs.doshisha.ac.jp/kakushin/shokunin/mov/mov_harada.html.

The printmaking studio of Kenji Takenaka, in the beautiful ancient city of Kyoto, is known as Takezasa-Do. The fifth generation of a family of master printers, Kenji has been a mentor to a variety of artists, including Bill Mathie, professor of art at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Mathie met Takenaka in 2005, during a trip to Japan where he explored traditional Japanese printmaking. With the support of the Japan Foundation, Takenaka and four others visited Edinboro in 2006, and presented an intensive workshop in traditional watercolor woodblock printing. Takenaka, his apprentice Yuko Harada, Tuula Moilanen who taught drawing and painting at his shop, and Mathie will present their work in this ancient and beautiful medium as the final show in the Annex Gallery (which will be converted to another education studio as part of the Museum’s expansion project).

Watercolor woodblock—the technique by which the classic ukiyo-e prints were created—is a demanding process. Kenji’s father, Seihachi Takenaka, is the grand grand master printer today in Kyoto, where woodblock printers have developed a unique regional style. Kenji, whose work is found in museum collections around the world, creates lush landscapes and other traditional subjects in a contemporary style with bold colors. His student, Yuko Harada, prints both her own works and prints designed by other artists. Finnish artist Tuula Moilanen has been living and working in Japan since 1989, producing both woodblock prints and artist books. She has also written an exemplary treatise on traditional Japanese woodblock printing in The Art and Craft of Woodblock Printmaking.

Theories ABout Prayer, Bill Mathie	Infinity Slice, Tuula Moillanen	KamoRiver at Shijo, Kenji Takenaka