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MORIOKA SHOTEN: THE BOOK OF TEA May 20 – June 21, 2025 Special Talk & Music Performance: Saturday, May 24 at 2 PM SEIZAN Gallery is pleased to present  MORIOKA SHOTEN:  THE BOOK OF TEA ,  a special two-week pop-up from May 20 to 31, 2025, featuring the internationally celebrated Tokyo bookstore  Morioka Shoten . This marks the bookstore’s first-ever appearance in New York. The event will take place in SEIZAN's project room and culminates in a talk by founder  Yoshiyuki Morioka , followed by a live  clavichord performance by Akira Uchida  on  Saturday, May 24 at 2 PM . Tea will be served by  Ippodo Tea  from Kyoto. Founded in 2015,  Morioka Shoten  is a one-of-a-kind bookstore that presents just  one title per week , accompanied by related artworks, design objects, and cultural programming. With its minimalist concept and deep reverence for the power of books, Morioka Shoten has developed a devoted international following and become a quietly iconic cultural destination in Tokyo. For this special New York edition, Morioka has selected  The Book of Tea  by  Okakura Kakuzō  (also known as Okakura Tenshin, 1863–1913), a seminal work first published in English in 1906. Blending philosophy, aesthetics, and cultural commentary, the book explores the Japanese tea ceremony ( chanoyu ) as a lens through which to understand Japanese spirituality, design, and worldview. Over the decades, it has deeply influenced Western artists, writers, and intellectuals—including  Georgia O’Keeffe . Morioka recently traveled to  O’Keeffe’s Home and Studio in Abiquiú, New Mexico , where he discovered two copies of  The Book of Tea  in her personal library, one with handwritten underlines. Photographs taken during his visit, along with a portrait of O’Keeffe by  Todd Webb , will be on view alongside a first edition and recent versions of the book. Join us on  Saturday, May 24  for a special program featuring Morioka’s reflections on his research journey and a live  clavichord performance  by  Akira Uchida , described by Morioka as “an urban alternative to the sounds of the tea house.” Special thanks to The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Todd Webb Archive, and Ippodo Tea. RSVP for Talk & Live Performance on May 24 Left (O’Keeffe): Todd Webb Georgia O’Keeffe Pouring Tea at the Ghost Ranch, 1962 Vintage gelatin silver print 10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.32) Right (book page): Photo by Yoshiyuki Morioka

LECTURE & TALK KEIKO ARAI × SUSIE FERRELL (LACMA) Saturday, June 28, 2pm SEIZAN Gallery525 W26th St Ground Fl. New York, NY 10001 SEIZAN Gallery invites you to a special lecture and conversation featuring ink artist Keiko Arai and Susie Ferrell, Associate Curator of Chinese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Held as the closing event of INKSCAPE , Arai’s first solo exhibition in the United States, this special program will begin with a lecture by Ferrell on Ink Painting of East Asia , exploring the tradition’s rich history and the ways contemporary artists are pushing the boundaries of monochrome expression. The lecture will be followed by a conversation between Arai and Ferrell, reflecting on Ferrell’s 2023 visit to Arai’s studio and discussing how Arai’s practice challenges conventional approaches to ink painting and carries the medium into the future. A casual mixer with refreshments will follow the talk. Keiko Arai  (b. 1963, Tokyo) is a self-taught ink painter who has exhibited widely in Japan, France, and Korea. Recent solo exhibitions include presentations at the Nara Prefectural Museum of Art Gallery, Chiba City Museum, and Funabashi Andersen Park/Children’s Museum of Art. Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions at the 30th International TANNAN Art Festival, Centre culturel Les Fosses d’enfer (France), the Museum of Modern Art in Saitama, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Arai has completed several public commissions, including fusuma-e  (sliding door paintings) for Okamoto Shrine and Otaki Shrine in Fukui, Hojoji Temple in Chiba, and the Udatsu Paper and Craft Museum in Fukui. Arai lives and works in Chiba, Japan. Susie Ferrell  is Associate Curator of Chinese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A specialist in contemporary Chinese art, she has worked closely with both the Yuz Foundation Collection and the Fondation INK Collection—comprising over 400 promised gifts of contemporary Chinese and global ink art. Since joining LACMA in 2016, Ferrell has curated or co-curated numerous exhibitions, including The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China , The Abode of Illusions: The Garden of Zhang Daqian  (Yuz Museum, Shanghai), Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection , Legacies of Exchange: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation , Zheng Chongbin: Golden State , and Line, Form, Qi: Calligraphic Art from the Fondation INK Collection . She holds an MA in the History of Art from The Courtauld Institute and a BA in Art History and Fine Art from Scripps College.

“ Wild swimming and TikTok dances: Hiroshima today - in pictures “ Aya Fujioka’s award-winning  Here Goes River  series documenting contemporary life in Hiroshima is featured in The Guardian. The series showcases how everyday moments unfold against the backdrop of the city's profound history. "Aya Fujioka set out to shake the weight of history from her home city and capture her own relationship with it. But she couldn't help picking up echoes from the past..."   - The Guardian This year marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing. Read the full article from The Guardian here. Selected works from this series will be displayed at  Tokyo Gendai  from September 12-14, where we will present Fujioka's work alongside Alex Ito and Toshiyuki Kajioka.  SEIZAN Gallery at Tokyo Gendai Booth A07  Pacifico Yokohama 1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku Yokohama 220-0012, Japan VIP Preview (Invitation Only) & Vernissage Thursday, September 11  General Admission:  September 12-14    www.tokyogendai.com   Top Image: Aya Fujioka Here Goes River (74) , 2017 Edition of 8 Chromogenic print ©︎ Aya Fujioka

BEYOND NIHONGA: TRADITION MEETS MODERNISM IN JAPANESE FIGURE PAINTING BY DARIA MELNIKOVA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2 PM AT SEIZAN GALLERY 521 W 26TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10001 SEIZAN Gallery welcomes Daria Melnikova, Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Japanese Art at Columbia University, for a unique gallery talk on Nihonga painter Eri Iwasaki. Melnikova, whose essay on Iwasaki is included in the exhibition catalog, will explore major artistic traditions in Japan and beyond as well as how contemporary artists rediscover and reinterpret the traditions of the past. Participants will look at The Tale of Genji and 17th-century genre paintings, Ukiyo-e prints, Renaissance portraiture, modern Yōga and Nihonga, and contemporary artists such as Yoshitomo Nara in conjunction with Iwasaki's work. To attend the talk, please RSVP to info@seizan-gallery.com. Image: Eri Iwasaki, Tiny Light, Tiny Night , 2019 Photo by GION

Motohide Takami Painter Motohide Takami will join the Artist Talk for the upcoming exhibition Catenations hosted by Tiger Strikes Asteroid . Cantenations , is a group exhibition curated by Rachael Gorchov and Jo Yarrington. Works in various mediums explore the roles water plays in health, happiness, as well as the politics of water. Motohide Takami will be showing FIRE.P , 2013 along with works by Atul Bhalla, Gail Biederman, Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow, Mary Dwyer, Timothy Fadek, Julia Krolik and Owen Fernley, Phoebe Murer, Bridget Frances Quinn, Karolin Schwab, and Cheryl Yun. FIRE.P is from the artist's iconic series of “burning house” paintings. They reference the Japanese expression, “fire on another shore,” meaning unfortunate events that are not related to you. This painting addresses the limitations of human empathy and is especially resonant now in 2020. In anticipation of the opening of “Cattentions” now rescheduled for fall, Gorchov and Yarrington are hosting Zoom discussions to introduce the works. Takami will join five of the participating artists from his studio in Tokyo. DATE: JUNE 24, 2020 @8PM (EDT) RSVP HERE: HTTPS://BIT.LY/2AP8N3K You will receive a Zoom link two hours before the start time for this event. Image: Motohide Takami FIRE.P , 2013 Oil on canvas 51.2 x 76.4 inches (130 x 194 cm)

We have some exciting news as we gear up toward the opening of SEIZAN artist Asako Tabata’s first solo show next month! Two of her works are featured in the current issue of MONKEY , a literary magazine founded by renowned translators Motoyuki Shibata and Ted Goossen. The magazine, originally launched as MONKEY BUSINESS in 2011 introduces new voices from Japan. The latest issue themed “Travel” features writings by Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, Hideo Furukawa and many more, along with artworks and illustrations by master and emerging artists. Tabata contributed her sculpture of an Amabie made of Papier-mâché as well as an oil painting of an Amabie accompanied by Hiromi Kawakami’s short story “Sea Horse.” The issue is on sale at: https://monkeymagazine.org Asako Tabata, Amabie , 2020. Acrylic on papier-mâché. 11.4 x 2.8 x 3.5 inches (29 x 7 x 9 cm)

SEIZAN Gallery is delighted to announce our inaugural participation in VOLTA New York , May 18 through May 22. The focus of our presentation is the work of artist Yasushi Ikejiri. Influenced by a variety of landscape painters, from Ivan Shishikin to Edward Hopper, Yasushi Ikejiri (b.1971, Hokkaido, Japan)explores mundane scenes from everyday life in Tokyo. He depicts these images with extraordinary detail and saturated color. The paintings recall the pure, celebratory joy often found in landscape painting, yet a dystopian undercurrent is also present. For VOLTA New York, Ikejiri presents new oil paintings from his recent “candy box” series. The classic children's story The Chocolate Candy Angel by Mimei Ogawa (1882-1961) in a key impetus for this series. Each painting depicts the corner of a desolate street or park and a mysteriously placed empty candy box. With evocative hints at human life in otherwise empty landscapes, Ikejiri speaks to the viewer’s imagination with implied narratives. SEIZAN Gallery at VOLTA New York Booth 309 May 18 through May 22, 2022 548 W 22nd Street New York, NY 10001 Wednesday May 18 Private View: 2-6pm Public Vernissage: 6-9pm Public Opening Thursday, May 19 12-8pm Wednesday, May 20 12-8pm Saturday, May 21, 12-8pm Sunday, May 22, 12-5pm All Inquiries please email: info@seizan-gallery.com Image: Yasushi Ikejiri, Among the Peony Flowers , 2022. Oil on Canvas. 23.9 x 31.6 x 1.2 inches (60.6 × 80.3 x 3 cm).