PRESS RELEASE Yuki Katsura - A FABLE -

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1 PRESS RELEASE Yuki Katsura - A FABLE - APRIL 6 (Sat) JUNE 9 (Sun) 2013

2 Yuki Katsura - A FABLE - Yuki Katsura ( ), who in 1935 held a solo exhibit of collage works, was a pioneer among women artists. Her career of 60 years bridged the pre- and post-war periods. This exhibition, the first comprehensive survey of her work, will be held in her native Tokyo to commemorate the centennial of her birth. Katsura s methodology of simultaneously pursuing tactile sensations in cork and fabric collages, detailed delineation in oils, and caricaturistic depiction caught the attention of Shuzo Takiguchi and Fujita Tsuguharu before the war as manifesting a highly distinctive approach to painting. Following the war, by applying her penetrating eye for society and people to allegorical depiction, she produced richly humorous works that encourage interpretations on multiple levels. Katsura continually fostered her own objectivity through travels and books, and her work is permeated throughout by multifaceted observation, cognizant of both the avant-garde and the everyday, critical analysis and laughter, and Japanese folk elements and the universal perspectives of the modern West. By slightly manipulating our perspective viewing a fable s main character from the standpoint of its supporting character, for example, or rotating her completed painting 90 degrees or enveloping her subject in a membrane-like wrapping she moves us to look anew at all we had taken for granted. This exhibition presents Yuki Katsura s artistic world which commutes freely across the boundaries between human beings, creatures, and objects by means of allegorical depiction through her foremost paintings and also numerous artworks and book covers and illustrations never before exhibited. It endeavors to show, from varying angles, the significance of her work as art fostered in a different context from the Western avant-garde. Katsura s art, which developed within the complete freedom of her thinking and attitudes, startles and awakens us to the joy of discovering the world around us from new perspectives. Exhibition Information Title: Yuki Katsura- A FABLE Period: April 6 (Sat)-June 9 (Sun) 2013 Closed on: Mondays (except for April 29, May 6), April 30, May 7 Opening Hours: 10:00-18:00 (tickets are available until 17:30) Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo/ THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ The Japan Association of Art Museums Supported by: Lion Corporation, SHIMIZU CORPORATION, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., SOMPO JAPAN INSURANCE INC., Nippon Television Network Corporation Admission: Adult: 1000 ( 800) / University & College Student, Over 65yrs old: 800 ( 640) / High School & Junior High School Student: 600( 480) / Free for Elementary School & Under Note: *( ) Price for a group, over 20 people *Free entry to MOT permanent collection for ticket holders Curated by Naoko Seki Assistants: Mihoko Nishikawa / Yasumitsu Takai Intern: Yui Kato Press: Kumiko Ohara Also showing: Francis Al ÿs PartⅠ:MEXICO SURVEY MOT Collection Our Ninety Years: Afterimages of Tomorrow 2

3 Exhibition Features In Tokyo, Yuki Katsura s first comprehensive solo exhibition From her first solo exhibit at age 21 to her exhibition of new works a half century later, Yuki Katsura continually commanded attention with her own distinctive art. Yet, she never obtained the opportunity to show her foremost works in one location in her native Tokyo. This time, viewers will see artworks from nearly every period of her career, both important works and works never before exhibited. 1 Early-period experimental works never before shown Sketches of plants undertaken in her teens, lacquer paintings and collages produced in the 1930s, and hell scenes abounding with humor through works never before publically displayed, the exhibition will trace back to pre-war Japan in order to understand how her three expressive methods detailed delineation, collages that explore tactile sensations, and caricature works originated and came to form. 2 The artist s engagement with society In the 1940s and 50s, Katsura went outside to sketch Tokyo s townscapes and its people in daily life. In 54, when the Fukuryu Maru was contaminated by fallout from a nuclear test at Bikini Atoll, she produced Hito to Sakana (Man and Fish: Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art) and other important works addressing the realities of society. In this period, when Japan s publishing world resurged, she furthermore undertook allegorical depiction in oils for the covers and illustrations of children s books, such as Nonchan kumo ni noru ( Nonchan Rides on a Cloud ; author, Momoko Ishii) and Obaachan to kobuta ( The Old Woman and the Piglet"; author, Yaeko Nogami). 3 Long travels From 1956 to 61, Katsura made long trips to Paris, Central Africa, and New York. Taking her sketchbook and camera in hand, she observed people s lives in many environments, compiling her experiences in an award-winning travel journal (Mainichi Publishing Culture Award). In New York, where Neo Dada seized her attention, she moved to a expansive studio and undertook in large scale the collages she given up during the war due to the difficulty of obtaining materials. The work Four Canvases, collected by an American art museum, will travel to Japan for the first time, for this exhibition. 4 Animal Fables In the mid-sixties, Katsura won the grand prize of the Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan for her large-scale collage, Gombe and Crows, which looks at a well-known fable from the supporting character s perspective. Katsura saw the crow, who frustrates Gombe s patient hard work, as a symbol of destructive innovation, and she felt angered by perceptions of it as a metaphor for wasted effort. Using bird beaks and tenugui cloth to richly humorous effect, she critically examines the fable. In parallel with such large-scale paintings, she also gave terrific energy to creating book covers and illustrations for the works of cultural critic Kiyoteru Hanada, the fiction of James Baldwin and Minako Oba, and for an autobiography of the social entrepreneur, Miki Sawada. At that time, she sought to deepen her understanding of the social conditions faced by black people and women. In this period when Katsura penned many notable essays, creatures in membrane-like wrappings, signifying various meanings, came to appear in her works, 5 Red Silk Implements In 1985, Katsura exhibited installations of objects wrapped in the red silk lining of kimono. The objects implements used by women in daily life: a high pillow, a cooking pot, a bag, etc. are ordinary in themselves, yet on closer inspection appear to be sprouting horns. Katsura, by enveloping everyday objects in wrappings of fabric or paper, animates them and makes them squirm to life. In her late years, her artwork took a new turn towards living with the incongruities of life. By taking things in hand and seeking to understand life s unsettling aspects concretely, through the mediation of physical objects, she perhaps sought to renew her relationship with the world around her. 3

4 Artist Profile Photo by MINORU HIRATA 1913 Born in Sendagi-cho, Hongo. Studied Nihonga with Shuho Ikegami while at girls school. Upon graduating, learned anatomical drawing at the studios of Kenichi Nakamura and Saburosuke Okata Attended the Avant-garde Research Group led by Seiji Togo and Tsuguharu Fujita Held her first solo exhibit of collage works at Kindai Gallery At the invitation of Tsuguharu Fujita, held an exhibit at Gallery Nichido. With Jiro Yoshihara, took part in forming the Ninth Room Association of the Nika-kai (Second Section Association) With Setsuko Migishi, took part in forming the Women Artists Association Took part in forming the Japan Avant-garde Artists Club. At Taro Okamoto s invitation, attended the Yoru no Kai ( Night Society ) and became acquainted with Kiyoteru Handa Accepted as a member of the Nika Exhibition and served as a judge until Went to France and traveled Europe with Paris as a base. From spring 1958, traveled to Central Africa from Paris and stayed two months, then left for New York, where she lived for about three years Returned to Japan. Exhibited Ihojin (Strange Foreigner) in the 6 th International Art Exhibition, Japan and won the first prize. Held a solo exhibit at Tokyo Gallery. Exhibited in the Carnegie International Exhibition. Left the Nika-kai Compiled her experiences in America and Africa in Onna hitori genshiburaku ni hairu ( A Woman Alone Visiting a Primitive Village ) Traveled to the Soviet Union with a delegation led by Kazuo Dan for the purpose of fishing. Thereafter, made fishing trips to various regions Exhibited Gombe and Crows in the 7 th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan and won the grand prize At the invitation of Kanemon Asai, exhibited in the Shinju Association Exhibition until Published books of essays: Kitsune no Dairyoko ( The Fox s Journey ), Shin Kitsune no Dairyoko ( The New Fox s Journey ), Zoku Kitsune no Dairyoko ( The Fox s Journey--Sequel ) Held an exhibition of all new works, Momi no Katachi ( Forms of Red Silk ) at Ina Gallery Died of heart failure. A touring exhibition prepared before her death was held at Shimonoseki City Art Museum. 4

5 PRESS IMAGES 10 images are available for the publicity purpose. Please fill in the image request form and send it back to us via or FAX Press Inquiry Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Public Relations Section Kumiko Ohara: k-ohara@mot-art.jp TEL (direct) / FAX

6 Image Request Form FAX As for the Press Images, we have 6 selected images for this exhibition. These can be obtained upon request using this image request form. Please FAX us at or drop an at the press contact. Regards to the usage of these images, please be aware of the following; 1) All provided caption needs to be credited upon usage of the imagery. (Title, Name of the Artist/s, Year, Name of the photographer/s) 2) Trimming and editing images are prohibited. *Much appreciated if you could send us a rough draft of the article before the final print. **Please send us a copy of the magazine/newspaper/dvd/video/website link etc. Name of the Magazine / Newspaper / TV program / Website: Please circle your genre: TV / Radio / Magazine / Newspaper / Free-paper / Website / Mobile site / Others On-sale date/ Airdate *If not fixed, planned Name of the Company: Your Name: Mailing Address: Phone number: FAX: Please tick the box of the image/s your request: 1 Yuki Katsura, Untitiled, 1930, Photo / Paper, Collection of The World Chldren s museum of Okazaki 6 Yuki Katsura, Work, 1965, oil and paper on board, Collection of Fukuoka Art Museum 2 Yuki Katsura, Work, , oil on canvas, Collection of Shimonoseki City Art Museum 7 Pretty Miss Tips, Original work of Vera Held, written by Hajime Kijima, drawings by Yuki Katsura, (Published by Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc., 1971), Acrylic on paper, Collection of The Miyagi Museum of Art 3 Yuki Katsura, Untitiled (detail), water color and pencil on paper, Private Collection 8 Boken to Hiyorimi ( Adventure and Opportunism ), Published by Sojusha, 1971, written by Kiyoteru Hanada, drawings by Yuki Katsura 4 Yuki Katsura, Resistance, 1952,oil on canvas, Collection of Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo 9 Yuki Katsura, Untitiled, 1985, red silk, cotton, Private Collection 5 Yuki Katsura, Man and Fish, 19524,oil on canvas, Collection of Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art 10 Yuki Katsura, Sweet Potatoes, 1987, Oil on canvas, Private Collection Press Inquiry Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Public Relations Section Kumiko Ohara: k-ohara@mot-art.jp Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo Japan TEL (direct) / FAX