December 17, 2011-January 28, 2012 45188 Portola Avenue, Palm Desert, CA
Washi Tales: Works by Kyoko Ibe presents paper sculptures and wall pieces as remarkable
examples of papermaking, integrating scale, material, and content. Kyoko Ibe’s art making process is one of reflection and meditation in an effort to slow and transcend time. Her art communicates an inherent tranquility which slowly reveals itself through patient observation.
Ibe’s art transforms an environment into a sanctuary against the world outside and acts as an antidote to the fast-paced consumption of
imagery and life.
One of the first artists to begin incorporating traditional Japanese paper in the 1960s, Kyoko Ibe’s work began to garner acclaim in the 1970s and today her paper-installations reach monumental scales. While her paperbased works have been extensively exhibited across the world, Ibe is also renowned for her stage, costume and lighting designs. Ibe has earned a reputation as one of Japan’s leading artists with her large-scale installations of washi, or traditional Japanese paper. Combining conventional materials with modern techniques, Ibe’s work has brought washi from the sphere of arts and crafts to that of contemporary art. Though in keeping with Japanese custom, the sanctity of the paper itself is fundamental to her work. The ancient Japanese believed divine spirits resided in the paper and Ibe maintains such veneration, stating that while the functional role of paper has diminished, the aesthetic role of paper as a spiritual medium is more apparent and has succeeded today in reemerging as an art media. Appropriating old handmade paper and handwritten documents, Ibe recycles them into new forms of washi. The ink of the original sources remains embedded in the fibers of the paper, such that the new paper is uniquely variegated with shades of gray and intrinsically connected to the past. Ibe states, “I attempt to evoke the feeling of [washi] through my own techniques, while at the same time visualizing the rebirth of a past era. In this way, old paper and documents, asleep for years; secure a place along the axis of time for perpetual life of art.”
Untitled, from the series Rikyu 2011 Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi 44 x 111 1/2 in.
Untitled, from the series Hogosho 2008 Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi 57 3/4 x 116 1/4 in.
Untitled, from the series Once Upon a Time 2011 Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi 23 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. each
Sedona with Triangles
1999 Hogosho, pre-industrial time old paper, sumi ink for calligraphy, mica, natural indigo dye 17 3/4 x 35 1/2 in. each
Untitled
2011 Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi 23 3/4 x 46 1/2 in.
Untitled, from the series Rikyu 2009 Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi 48 x 15 5/8 in. each
Untitled, from the series Once Upon a Time 2011 Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi 41 3/4 x 18 x 13 1/2 in. each
Curved Horizon Hogosho with Blue and Gold 2009 Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi 24 x 55 in.
Hogosho with White, Black and Grey
1993 Hogosho, pre-industrial time old paper, sumi ink, mica, natural indigo dye 60 x 24 in. each panel
Byobu
2006 Hogosho, pre-industrial time old paper, sumi ink, mica, natural indigo dye 60 x 24 in. each panel
Kyoko Ibe Born 1941
Nagoya, Japan
Education 1963 Kyoto Institute of Technology, Design Theory and Industrial Design 1967 Kyoto Institute of Technology, Master of Technology Solo Exhibitions 2011 Washi Tales: Works by Kyoko Ibe, Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA Washi Tales: The Paper Art of Kyoko Ibe, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 2008
World of Yugen, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2007
Indigenous Paper, an exhibition with Mark Lander, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
2005
Mino Paper Museum, Mino, Japan
2003
Inocho Paper Museum, Inocho, Kochi, Japan
2002
Territories Partarges, an exhibition with George Rousse, Rur Arts Contemporain, France Gallery L’Asiatique, Scottsdale, Arizona, AZ
2001
Gallery Goraku, Tokyo, Japan
2000
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ Gallery L’Asiatique, Scottsdale, AZ Exhibition with Yuh Yoshinaga, Gallery 1, Tokyo, Japan Fuji City Art Hall, Shizuoka, Japan
1998
I Space, University of Illinois Gallery, Chicago, IL Mino Paper Museum, Gifu, Japan
1995
Gallery Vromans, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1994
Librije Hedendaagse Kunst Zwolle, The Netherlands
1993
Misawa Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan ltami Craft Center, Itami, Japan
1992
Washi Works, Amuse, Tokyo, Japan
1991
Washi Works, an exhibition with Sachio Fujisaki, Atelierhaus Arlesheim, Switzerland
1990
Washi Works, an exhibition with Andreas von Weizacker, The Japan Cultural Institute, Koln, Germany
1989
Washi Works, Goethe Institute, Kyoto, Japan
1987
Nordjyland Kunstmuseum, Denmark Academy of Dramatic Art, The Netherlands
1986
Kyoko Ibe Exhibition, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Craft Industry, Kyoto, Japan The Lighting and partitions, Gallery Aleph, Kyoto, Japan Washi Works ‘86, Gallery Space 21, Tokyo, Japan
1984
Daimaru Department Store Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan Misawa Interior Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1980
Odakyu Hale Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Gallery Maronie, Kyoto, Japan
1979
Gallery Beni, Kyoto, Japan
1978
Gallery Beni, Kyoto, Japan
1975
Kintetsu Department Store Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan Modern Craft Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1974
Gallery lteza, Kyoto, Japan Gallery Shisendo, Kyoto, Japan Modern Craft Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Select Group Exhibitions 2011 Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers, Japan Society, New York, NY
1993
Japan Canada Contemporary Paper Works Exhibition, Montreal City Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2007
Art Forum JARFO, Kyoto, Japan Paperarti, Vancouver Arts Center, Albany, West Australia
2006
The 5th International Textile Biennale, Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1992
New Art and Craft Exhibition, Osaka City Museum, Osaka, Japan Asahi Craft Exhibition Hankyu Department Store Gallery, Osaka, Japan Paper Media, Fine Art Museum, Budapest, Hungary
2005
Paper Now -2005, Museum in Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan Blue Heron Gallery, Deer Isle, ME Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME American Museum of Papermaking, Atlanta, GA The 2nd Exhibition American and Japanese Artists, Art Forum AFRO, Kyoto, Japan
1991
Graf and Scheible Gallery, Basel, Switzerland Nutita Kunst pa Papper av Papper, Kulturcentrum, Ronneby, Sweden Paper has Possibility, Kuopio Museum, Savolina Museum, Rovaniemi Museum, Finland
2004
Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Art Space Kitakazan, Kyoto, Japan
1990
Paper as Nature, Tempelhof von Berlin, Germany Paper as Language, Ino Paper Museum, Kochi, Japan The 3rd International Paper Art Biennale, Leopold Hoesch Museum, Germany
2003
Global Art and History of Papermaking, National Fine Art Museum, Santiago, Chile
2001
On Paper, Craft Council, London, UK Made in Japan, Bristol Museum, Bristol, UK
1989
International Paper Art Exhibition ‘89, Japan, Kyoto Museum, Tokushima, Tokyo, Japan Modern Art Museum, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1999
Forum of Washi, Nerima Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1997
Water, Ink, Paper, Sheenan Gallery, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
1988
Fiber as Art Part 3, Gallery Space 21, Tokyo, Japan The International Paper Art Biennale, Leopold Hoesch Museum, Germany Nordjylands Kunstmuseum, Denmark Paper Forms, New Jersey Art Center, Summit, NJ Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
1996
Paper Biennale, Ryswijk Museum, The Netherlands Fiber as Art Part 5, Osaka University Gallery, Osaka, Japan Gallery 21, Tokyo, Japan
1995
Fiber as Art Part 4, Osaka University Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1987
Asahi Craft Exhibition, Hankyu Department Store Gallery, Osaka, Japan Fiber as Art Part 2, Gallery Space 21, Tokyo, Japan Lighting Graffiti ‘87, Daimaru Art Museum, Osaka, Japan
1994
Japan Korea Art and Craft Exhibition, Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1983
Paper Now in Japan, Axis Hall, Tokyo, Craft Center Hall, Kyoto, Syuhkohsya Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan
Public Collections Kyoto Prefecture Museum, Kyoto, Japan Mino Paper Museum, Gifu, Japan American Museum of Papermaking, Atlanta, GA Nordjyland Kunstmuseum, Denmark Quebec University, Canada Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL Public Art and Commissions 2008 Entrance Hall of Washi Information Center Rakushikan, Kyoko, Japan 2005 Installation in Entrance lobby of Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Atlanta, GA 2004 Cosmo, Entrance Atrium Wisconsin Heart Hospital, Milwaukee, WI 2003 Habataku, 50th Anniversary of the opening of Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan 2002 Yuki, Sapporo International Convention Center, Sapporo, Japan 2001 San San, Acta Nishinomiya, Kobe, Japan 2000 Asuka, Ikiiki plaza, Tiba, Japan 1998 Finalist for Midway Airport Art Project, Chicago, IL 1995 Cosmo, 95 Kyoto Prefecture Fukushi Kaikan, Kyoto, Japan Kyoto Exhibition City Hall, Kyoto, Japan 1994 Mukoh City Fukushi Kaikan, Mukoh-shi, Kyoto, Japan Mukoh City Pool, Mukoh-shi, Kyoto, Japan 1993 Industrial Bank of Japan, Tokyo, Japan 1992 Amulax TOYOTA, Tokyo, Japan 1990 Installation in”Sakuya Konohanakann” The host pavilion of the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Exhibition, Osaka, Japan Fuji Grand, Matsuyama, Japan 1987-94 Tanabata Festa, 141 bld. Sendai, Japan 1985 Gavoner’s Guest Room in Tokushima Prefecture Office, Tokushima, Japan Tukuba Expo 85, Wall decoration for the Royal Guest House
Works Related to Theater 2011 Stage installation for Recycling: Washi Tales performance, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 2008 Stage for Noh performance, Krannert Center for Performing Arts, Champaign, IL 2000 Utah Dance Company, Marriott Theater, Salt Lake, UT Sakura Gensoh, Rirriku Hall, Nagaoka, Japan 1999 Festival New Art New World Skylight Stage, Chicago, IL 1998 Festival 98, Illinois Dance Company, Krannert Center for Performing Arts, Champaign IL 1994 Sonezaki Sinjyu, Tikamatu Experimental Theater, Amagasaki, Japan 1992 Production and Stage Art for the performance Sogne Kyoto Prefecture Theater, Alti, Japan 1990 Production and Stage Art for the modern Noh Performance, Dojoji-A Forbidden Journey 1988 Cosmo, Joint Performance with Junko Arase, Sendai City Hall, Japan 1986 The time falling bodies take to light, Palace of Fine Art, San Francisco, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, Toga studio, Kyoto, Tokushima and Sendai, Japan Paper and Dancing, Joint performance with Tandy Beal, Kyoto American Center, Tokyo Seed Hall, Tokyo, Japan 1982 Stage Art for Drama, Izumo no Okuni, Kyoto Prefecture Theater, Kyoto, Japan Publications 2006 Co-author and editor Encyclopedia Paper Culture and Science, Asakurasyoten 2000 Author and editor Introduction for Contemporary Paper Works, Shibunndo 1998 Co-author Modern Literature Textbook for Highschool, Taisyukann Shot en 1997 Co-author A Complete Work of Japanese Culture vol. 5, Iwanami Shoten Maria Syobou, On the Washi Works of Kyoko Ibe 1990-96 Co-author Washi Guidebook 1, 2, All Japan Washi Association
45188 Portola Avenue Palm Desert, CA 92260 760-346-8926 PO Box 3580 172 Center Street Suite 101 Jackson, WY 83001 307-200-6090 www.heatherjames.com