December 1 - January 26, 2002 (Opening Reception, Sat. Dec. 1, 4-7pm)

M.Y. ART PROSPECTS is pleased to introduce Takako Azami by presenting her first solo exhibition outside Japan. Critics in Japan consider Azami among the most promising artists working within and challenging the boundaries of the Japanese-style (nihonga) painting tradition.

Using indigenous materials such as sumi ink, mineral pigments and heavy durable handmade paper, together with animal glue and water, Azami creates large mural-like monochrome panel-paintings that have become known for their revitalizing approach to "nature"-an important theme in the East Asian painting tradition.
  
Although in the past her work tended toward the abstract, Azami recently began to use a tree as her motif.  For this NY exhibition, she has added water to her repertoire of images.

In her 2000-2001 "sei (spirit)" series, Azami depicts a large tree trunk with leafed branches from edge to edge of paper that runs as large as eight-by-six feet.
 
In Azami's philosophy, nature endures environmental destruction by following its own life cycle. "Burning itself," the literal translation for "shizen," the Japanese word for nature, made Azami contemplate on nature's vulnerability and its innate power of rebirth.  Her sensitive ink strokes and patterns become eloquent symbols of this power.

For Azami, the act of painting is profound. Following a traditional process she applies sumi ink repeatedly on the paper's reverse side, creating a fascinating layering effect that vividly reflects nature's transition, diversity, and dynamism.  At the same time, this process gradually detaches the artist from the deep feelings inside her and ensures the artistically and intellectually independent quality of her work.

In response to the recent tragic events in America, the artist compassionately hopes that, through her work, the American audience can somehow share her revivifying view of nature.
 
Takako Azami was born in 1964 in Saitama Prefecture, a district north of Tokyo. She graduated from Tama University of Fine Arts with a B.A. in painting (with an emphasis on Japanese-style painting).  She has been invited to exhibit in such important group exhibitions as Kanagawa Art Annual '98 and the Nerima Art Museum's "Nihonga: Tradition and Crossover from the Viewpoint of the 1990s" (1998).  Her recent solo exhibitions include "The Power of Rebirth" at the Exhibition Space, Tokyo International Forum, and at the Shibata Etsuko Gallery, Tokyo, both in 2000.
 
This exhibition was co-organized with the Shibata Etsuko Gallery (shibata-gallery@hkg.odn.ne.jp) as part of its first exchange program with M. Y. Art Prospects. As counterpoint to this exhibition, the Shibata Etsuko Gallery will present a solo exhibition of MYAP-represented artist Pouran Jinchi in Tokyo from December 10 through 28, 2001.
For further information and holiday schedule, please contact Miyako Yoshinaga or Shaheen Rashid.