Why do I always gravitate towards the Japanese artists? via BOOOOOOOM!

Yuri Shimojo is based in Brooklyn among other places.


Great Artists Live in Brooklyn Every design magazine, fashion magazine and art magazine I read lately features some important directional artist making big contributions to their genre. And where do they live? Brooklyn!

My former professor, Samuel C. Morse, is speaking at the Asia Society on April 8. I am so excited to attend this lecture. Click here to get tickets for the event.



Lecture 3 of the 3 Lecture Series. The Sherman E. Lee lectures honoring Dr. Lee, who passed away this year, consider how his role in the East Asian art world changed the scholarly and curatorial landscape in the west. Samuel C. Morse, Amherst College explores the Japanese elements of the collection.

At last the Krampf Gallery has relocated. And the current show, Ma Jun: Pop Dynasty, is one I have been waiting for quite a long time to see. Unfortunately, the night of the opening was like 10 degrees, and the location was in NYC's Far East where the cold winds off the East River are rather gripping. I am going to try to see this show this weekend, when it is warm. I totally recommend it!

Ma Jun: Pop Dynasty at the Krampf Gallery, February 19-March 15, 407 E 75th Street, 646.649.4593, www.krapmfgallery.com

the juxtaposition of patterns really appeals to me

a slightly more traditional look

downright British and downright amusing

again, the patterns are great.
this one is almost Magritte-like

I was so excited by these paintings by Riyaz Design this past weekend at The International Asian Art Fair that I just wanted to share them with you. These East-meets-West contemporary takes on traditional Indian miniature paintings are by Alexander Gorlizki, an English artist, and Riyaz Uddin, a master Miniature painter from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The two met in 1997 and together formed Riyaz Design.

"Alexander wanted to combine the superb technique and sensibility of Indian Miniatures with a more modern approach to painting and design: to introduce new subject matter, compositions and colour palettes as well as new narratives. He tried to imagine the Surrealist painter René Magritte working centuries ago in the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar.

"When Alexander met Riyaz he found an artist who was old enough to have developed amazing levels of skill and concentration — he had been painting for 13 years — yet was young enough to be willing to experiment and even subvert his own tradition."

It helps to know a bit about traditional Indian miniatures so you can see how and where Gorlizki's and Riyaz's unique examples depart. You may want to take a look at this link or this example at Prahlad Bubbar Ltd. from London. At the Fair, Prahlad Bubbar's miniature paintings were museum quality. Now mind you, when I worked at at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, it was in Japanese Art, not in Indian miniatures. But I picked up certain information from the curator and the conservators. Prahlad Bubbar had very beautiful pieces indeed.


[images from riyazdesign.com]

The International Asian Art Fair at the Seventh Regiment Armory is currently in full swing. I was there yesterday and saw some great from Japan, China, India and England. England? Yes one artist from England was showing some very interesting East-meets-West Indian miniatures. You can still attend the event on Tuesday or Wednesday as of this posting. I will be back with more posts tomorrow about various trends I noticed and exquisite pieces that caught my eye. Above, the Armory was festooned with bright colors and inflatable white tubes. And the flower arrangements of orchids, forsythia and green cut bamboo were a show unto themselves.