Water Flames

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 1st, 2005

Exhibition:
Makoto Fujimura: Water Flames

Dates:
September 15th-October 23rd, 2005

Reception:
Thursday, September 15th, 2005, 6 to 8pm

Artist Talk:
October 7th, 2005, 7-9pm

Opening September 15th, 2005, Sara Tecchia Roma New York is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Makoto Fujimura.

Makoto Fujimura was born in 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts. Educated bi-culturally between the US and Japan, Fujimura graduated from Bucknell University in 1983, and received an M.F.A. from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with a Japanese Governmental Scholarship in 1989. Known for marrying the abstract expressionism explored in the US with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga, Fujimura has had numerous solo shows both in the US and abroad.

The inspiration for his current show, "Water Flames," comes from a fascination with T.S. Elliot's "The Wasteland, specifically the phrase: "The fire and the rose are one." Using this as a starting point, Fujimura delved deeper into the lines origin, and discovered that the line originated in Dante's "Divine Comedy."

Fujimura explains: "Fire can be illustrated easily, and the abbreviated forms can be found everywhere. But how is fire's essence to be captured? What is its shape? How do you describe its energy? When fire becomes more than merely a symbol, but a phenomenon, then the depictions of flames become a difficult, if not an impossible, task. The attempt is to capture the essence of something you think you see, but in reality is elusive to capture. Fire is at once recognizable and yet mysteriously abstract at the same time.

"The materials I use, mostly derived from the medieval methods of Japan, lend themselves subtle intersection between abstraction and representation hidden behind the four basic elements: Water, Earth, Air and Fire. Pulverized precious minerals, gifts from the earth, are layered with water onto Japanese mulberry and hemp fibers, creating a semi-permanent surface. The prismatic semi-opaque layers trap light, creating refraction of light for the eyes to delight in. Paper breathes, accommodating itself to the environment, and thus continues to mold itself to the surroundings, and that process is captured by the watermarks on the surface. Gold powder, mixed with animal hide glue, is the ideal color to be placed on top of Japanese vermillion and cochineal (derived from a tiny insect in India). The surface itself is an ecosystem of colors combining earth with air, and water with, in this new series, fire.

"The Golden Flames series is painted with pure gold powder and nikawa (Japanese hide glue). The paper is Kumohada paper made in Imadate, Japan, specifically for this project.

"Dante describes an upward journey of a poet, from hell to heaven. This journey has significance for contemporary culture: How can art possibly tackle the weight of the enormity, the complexity of global tensions? Can art mediate, reconciling these tensions in some persuasive fashion? It is a journey that continues upward."

This coming October Makoto Fujimura's work will be included in "The Universe of Art" at Credit Suisse First Boston bank on 11 Madison Avenue NYC. The show, curated by Betty Levin of Corporate Art Directions, celebrates diversity in the work place using art as an expression of this. "The Universe of Art" opens on October 11th and will run through December. Please contact the gallery for further information.

SARA TECCHIA ROMA NEW YORK is located at 529 West 20th Street, between Tenth Avenue and Eleventh Avenue. The gallery is on the second floor.

For more information, contact 212-741-2900, or visit www.saratecchia.com