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Norio Takamiya, and Robyn Kennedy are two artists as diverse as you could expect to find from an exhibition entitled East Meets West but both are influenced by Japanese culture, aesthetic and medium. Opening at Marianne Newman Gallery on Thursday 11 February, this show features distinctive, traditional Japanese woodblock prints and exquisite textile collage works of outstanding craftsmanship.
Japanese born and trained, Norio Takamiya immigrated to Australia in1989 as a postgraduate art student. His brightly coloured woodblock prints weave the themes of his lifelong engagement with "cultural juxtaposition" and identity, both collective and personal. Takamiya investigates Orientalism and globalisation ... he explores the dichotomies of East/West, old/new, usual/unusual by borrowing ideas from other cultures and juxtaposing iconic images to reveal a new, different allure to the original elements. The result is both charming and humorous with characters like Tin Tin, Astroboy, Mt Fuji, the Sydney Opera House and references to the Bauhaus and artists like van Gogh, Magritte and Klimt.
Completing his Doctorate of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong in 1996, Takamiya has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in both Australia and Japan. In a review of Takamiya's 2006 Canberra exhibition Sasha Grishin said "... Takamiya is not a well-known name in Australian printmaking, but this large exhibition of his woodblock prints suggest that he should be taken seriously as an artist." Since then Takamiya has enjoyed a substantial and increasing following.
Robyn Kennedy is a Sydney based, collage artist creating works on paper or canvas using exquisite antique textiles. She features images of exotic, oriental women or abstract works, intricately melding diverse cultures and fabrics into pieces of beauty, harmony and exceptional craftsmanship.
Kennedy's lifelong interest in design and the decorative arts became focused when she began to work in the interior design industry in the mid 1990s. Surrounded by exquisite and extremely diverse textiles, the remnants of which often ended up on rubbish piles, she was inspired to create unique contemporary artworks.
The beauty of pattern interests Kennedy and she highly values hand made objects in a world that is dominated by mass produced articles and digitally generated images. This passion constantly motivates her to develop her individual style and techniques for working with and embellishing a diverse range of textiles.
The materials used in the current artworks are a blend of antique textiles and contemporary fashion and interior textiles, paper, acrylic paint, beads and brass stampings. The antique textiles from Japan are a mix of altar cloths, temple mats and silk brocade obis from the 1920s and later and those from India have been collected by Kennedy over the last 12 years when visiting Jaisalmer, Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan - gold and silver hand embroidered sections and mirror work are from Rajasthani wedding dresses. All works are finished with fine metallic and cotton thread embellishment.
The imagery is eclectic and includes exotic, Asian inspired and richly adorned women; abstract/modern creations with an assimilation of ideas expressed through the composition of unusual textures and textiles; moments in time - works symbolizing living and dreaming.
Kennedy's works are imbued with spirituality and harmony as she intricately melds the diverse cultures, fabrics and styles of past and present.
For all who are devotees of Japanese aesthetics this is a fine exhibition which also complements the great Kitagawa Utamaro's woodblock prints currently showing at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Robyn Kennedy will hold an Artists' talks on Saturday 27 February at 2:30, please RSVP.
East meets West is on show at Marianne Newman Gallery, 1 Albany Street, Crows Nest from 11 February - 13 March 2010.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am - 5pm
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