We are
pleased to announce our exhibition, Luminous Form: The Mezzotints
of Yozo Hamaguchi, featuring over 80 works spanning the artist's
career. This opening inaugurates Floating World Gallery's new space
located at 1925 N. Halsted Street, Chicago, IL, and will be held on
Friday, October 23, 2009, at 6 pm.
Yozo
Hamaguchi was the pre-eminent mezzotint artist of the 20th century
and creator of the colored mezzotint. For centuries the mezzotint
technique was limited to creating photorealistic reproductions of
paintings. The introduction of photogravures rendered this purpose
obsolete. Hamaguchi recognized the artistic potential for the art
form. With the encouragement of the poet e.e. cummings, Hamaguchi
began producing mezzotints in the 1930s.
Hamaguchi prints illustrate simple subjects --slice of melon,
a ball of yarn, a single cherry. Yet they provide great richness and
depth to these objects. His subjects glow and become weightless.
Lush velvet-like backgrounds hold and suspend his subjects,
intensifying their presence, and subtle gradations of color and tone
become rich landscapes.
Standing
apart from previous exhibitions, the show emphasizes the artist
working methods, showcasing several original zinc plates used in the
mezzotint process as well as presenting, for the first time, a
variety of unique trial impressions of some of his most celebrated
designs.
Floating
World Gallery has been one of the world's leading dealers of modern
Japanese art for over 20 years. We offer our clients, private
collectors and institutions the highest quality works of art. We
promote modern Japanese art to a wide audience and are delighted to
open our 8,200 square-foot gallery space, the largest in the
country exclusively dedicated to modern Japanese
art.
