Get Out More………………Art Exhibition

THE MOON REFLECTED (Ikon, until Jan 20, 2008)

14-12-2007

Modern art gallery shows off work from bloke who was born 190 years ago shocker. But as Paula Elenor discovers, Utagawa Hiroshige still feels contemporary.

Regular visitors to the IKON might be puzzled as to why it has broken with its usual practice of exhibiting the work of contemporary artists – Hiroshige was born in Edo (modern Tokyo) in 1797 and died in 1858. But when you see this fascinating show on the first floor you will be struck by its curiously modern feel.

This exhibition of woodblock prints from the British Museum’s Japanese Section has been curated by the British artist, Julian Opie, and his choice of prints from the last 5 years of Hiroshige’s life give us some insight into the influences that shape his own work: carefully composed landscapes using areas of flat colour and the graphic quality of his figurative work.

You don’t have to be an afficianado of Japanese prints to appreciate this exhibition. It is well worth a visit over the holiday period. If you are into graphic art, you will be struck by the masterly balance between simplified outlines and the skilfully drawn detail in just the right places. Think comics. Think contemporary graphic novels & animations - including those from modern Japan.

If you are into photography or film, you will admire his precisely framed compositions – and occasionally startled by his daring use of a barely seen detail in the foreground, just on the very edge of the composition – part of our peripheral vision - used to such good effect in “Distant view of Kinryuzan Temple and the Azumabashi bridge.”

Is that a Geisha just sailing out of frame? I want to see more! I want to know more! If you are into decorative art for decorative art’s sake, you will enjoy the vibrant colours of the carefully applied inks and the delicate cross-fading effects across blocks of colour achieved by Hiroshige’s printers.

If you are into 19th and early 20th century Japanese culture, you will be fascinated by these depictions of a surprisingly sophisticated metropolitan world fed by the farmers and fishermen in the provinces. Edo was the world’s largest metropolis at the time.

The prints depict a complex society on the brink of great social and economic change. Hiroshige would not have been aware of this, though – he was more concerned with fulfilling the demands of a visually literate society where a premium was set on exquisite design and skilled workmanship.

Go and see it. Enjoy!