Miya Ando | Kisetsu (Seasons)

GALLERY MISSION

Established in 2000, Sundaram Tagore Gallery is devoted to examining the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-profit events that encourage spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts. With alliances across the globe, our interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines, including poetry, literature, performance art, film and music.

MIYA ANDO

The New York-Based Artist Debuts Recent Work in Kisetsu (Seasons)

A descendant of Bizen sword makers, Ando was raised among Buddhist priests in a temple in Okayama, Japan. Combining traditional techniques of her ancestry with modern industrial technology, she skillfully transforms sheets of metal into ephemeral, abstract paintings suffused with color.

The foundation of Ando’s practice is the transformation of surfaces. She applies heat, sandpaper, grinders, acid and patinas to metal canvases, irrevocably altering the material’s chemical properties to produce subtle, light-reflective gradations of color and texture.

As with her earlier metal paintings, her new works are luminous blue, pink, green and gold, a palette she conjures from a limited selection of industrial dyes. Ando uses different techniques to adhere the color to the aluminum panels, including anodization, in which sapphire crystals are electroplated to the metal, allowing the dyes to bond. Another approach is the layered application of pigments and urethane, which allows for variations of color and finish, with some areas of the painting matte and others glossy. To produce a high-gloss finish, Ando adds up to twenty layers of urethane and resin, which vividly amplifies the reflective quality of the metal. The resulting works subtly evoke ethereal, minimalist landscapes, cloud formations and abstracted metallic horizons.

Ando’s goal is to create a relationship between her industrial materials and the natural world. “I’m interested in elemental and material transformations, so I look to materials that can show a duality. Hard metal becomes ethereal and reflects light differently throughout the day, or becomes something that captures changing light, as in the sky,” she says. “The paintings are about finding harmony and balance between the man-made and natural.”

For the installation Koyo (p. 71), Ando uses her signature visual vocabulary—subtle gradations of form and color that capture moments in time—to explore impermanence. Hundreds of cascading Bodhi leaves change from green to yellow to orange and finally brown, alluding to momiji-gari, the Japanese tradition of traveling to scenic areas to view autumn leaves. Although it’s considered a secular event, there’s a spiritual element, as viewers are reminded that all things are transitory and it’s these transformations that mark time.

Ando has also introduced a new material alongside the steel and aluminum she usually works with: shou sugi ban, a charred wood used as an exterior building material in her hometown of Okayama. Similar to the metals she uses, the wood, once charred, is transformed, becoming stronger and more durable. Her installation Ku (Emptiness/The Sky) Shou Sugi Ban (pp. 40 and 41), is a large-scale sculpture clad in this wood. The interior of the sculpture is a continuous composition across multiple panels, which surrounds the viewer, offering a quiet space for contemplation and the experience of stepping inside one of Ando’s metal paintings.

Miya Ando has a BA in East Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended Yale University to study Buddhist iconography and imagery. She apprenticed with a master metalsmith in Japan, followed by a residency at Northern California’s Public Art Academy in 2009. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2012.

Her work has been shown worldwide, including in a recent show curated by Nat Trotman of the Guggenheim Museum and an exhibition at the Queens Museum, New York. Miya Ando has produced numerous public commissions, most notably a thirtyfoot-tall commemorative sculpture in London built from World Trade Center steel to mark the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. She lives and works in New York.

Miya Ando in her Brooklyn studio, 2013

Momiji Gari (Viewing of Autumn Leaves), 2014, hand-dyed anodized aluminum, 66 x 56 inches/167.6 x 142.2 cm

Mist (Faint Peach), 2014, pigment, lacquer and dye on aluminum, 36 x 36 inches/91.4 x 91.4 cm

Kiri (Fog) triptych, 2014, pigment, lacquer, resin and dye on aluminum, 48 x 144 inches/121.9 x 365.7 cm

Emptiness the Sky Faint Pink, 2014, urethane and pigment on aluminum, 48 x 48 inches/121.9 x 121.9 cm

Urushi Light Blue, 2014, pigment, urethane, resin and dye on aluminum, 30 x 30 inches/76.2 x 76.2 cm

Vermillion Summer Yellow, 2014, pigment, lacquer, resin and dye on aluminum, 36 x 36 inches/91.4 x 91.4 cm

The River Indigo Light Blue, 2014, pigment, lacquer, resin and dye on aluminum, 36 x 36 inches/91.4 x 91.4 cm

Autumn Brown Green River, 2014, urethane and pigment on aluminum, 36 x 36 inches/91.4 x 91.4 cm

Shiki Four Seasons Grid, 2014, pigment, urethane, resin and dye on aluminum, 96 x 120 inches/243.8 x 304.8 cm

Reflection Red, 2014, pigment, urethane, resin and dye on aluminum, 48 x 24 inches/121.9 x 60.9 cm

Akagane (Copper) triptych, 2014, copper, pigment and lacquer on aluminum, 24 x 72 inches/60.9 x 182.8 cm

Autumn Copper, 2014, urethane and pigment on aluminum, 48 x 48 inches/121.9 x 121.9 cm

Reflection Violet diptych, 2014, pigment, urethane, resin and dye on aluminum, 35 x 26 inches/88.9 x 66 cm

Ku (Emptiness/The Sky) Shou Sugi Ban, 2014, digital mockup, exterior

Winter Blue Reflection, 2014, urethane, pigment and resin on aluminum, 36 x 36 inches/91.4 x 91.4 cm

Winter Grey White River, 2014, urethane and pigment on aluminum, 36 x 36 inches/91.4 x 91.4 cm

Winter Black, 2014, hand-dyed anodized aluminum, 30 x 30 inches/76.2 x 76.2 cm

Formal Black Kimono, 2014, hand-dyed anodized aluminum, 72 x 49 x 2 inches/189 x 124.5 x 5 cm

Summer Blue River, 2014, urethane and pigment on aluminum, 48 x 48 inches/121.9 x 121.9 cm

Hakanai Fleeting Blue triptych, 2014, hand-dyed anodized aluminum, 30 x 90 inches/76.2 x 228.6 cm

Hakanai Fleeting Spring, 2014, hand-dyed anodized aluminum, 30 x 30 inches/76.2 x 76.2 cm

Ephemeral Winter, 2014, urethane and pigment on aluminum, 48 x 48 inches/121.9 x 121.9 cm

Spring Blue Green, 2014, urethane and pigment on aluminum, 48 x 24 inches/121.9 x 60.9 cm

MIYA ANDO

Born in Los Angeles

Certificate of Completion, Public Art Academy, Northern California

Apprentice to master metal smith, Okayama, Japan East Asian Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

B.S., magna cum laude, East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2014 Kisetsu (Seasons), Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

Light Metal, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong 2013 Tides & Phases of the Moon, K Imperial Gallery,

S an Francisco

Mujo (Impermanence), Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

Transformations, Martin Asbaek Gallery and Bang & Olufsen, Copenhagen

Miya Ando, Dixten Les Docks, Paris

2012 Meditations, Madison Galleries, La Jolla, California

2011 The Color of Light, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, S anta Monica, California

Elements, Galerie Sho Contemporary Art, Tokyo

Reflections, Shibuya Seibu Artspace, Tokyo

Chado: The Way of Tea, Artxchange Gallery, Seattle, Washington

2010 Shinobu, de Castallane Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

Meditations, Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky

Small Meditative Works, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, S anta Monica, California

2009 Luminous Transcendent, Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, California

Next Post: 18 Solo Projects, Rupert Ravens Contemporary, Newark, New Jersey

2008 Vanishing Point of Departures, Anne Reed Gallery, Sun Valley, Idaho

Revelation and Reflection, Bandini Art Gallery, Culver City, California

Introspective Environments, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art Museum, Staten Island, New York

2007 Miya Ando, Edith Caldwell Gallery, Sausalito, California, and Galerie Sho, Tokyo

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014 Raising the Temperature: Art works in environmental reactions, curated by Luchia Lee, Queens Museum of Art, New York

Unseen, Cult Exhibitions, San Francisco

All of the Above, Church of St Paul the Apostle, New York

Surface Tension, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

2013 Wu-Tang Exhibition, Wallplay, New York

Summer Group Show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Los Angeles

AIM Biennial, Bronx Museum and Wave Hill, New York

Archives of the Ephemeral: Ten Interventions in Nature, Escuela de Bellas Artes de Ponce, Puerto Rico

8 Women/8 Stories, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong

A Strong Hand that Nonetheless Gets You Nowhere, Kunsthalle Galapagos, New York

Limuw: An Ode to the Sea, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, California Thinking Like the Universe, K Imperial Gallery, San Francisco and Hatch Gallery, Oakland, California

2012 Timekeeper, The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, and iMAL, Brussels

Archives of the Ephemeral: Ten Artistic Interventions in Nature, Sagrado Corazon University, Puerto Rico

Summer Group Show, Installation 1, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

Galerie Sho Contemporary Art, New York Armory Fair Art Meets New York, Shibuya Seibu Gallery and Galerie Sho, Tokyo

Stories to Wake up With, The Market Studios,

Dublin, Ireland

Language Is the House We Live In, Kunstfilmtag; Auditorium of the Artists Association Malkasten, Düsseldorf

2011 Perspectives, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

Wa: The Art of Japan, Gensler Art Gallery, San Francisco

The Cutting Light, Galerie Vanessa Quang, Paris Wide Open, curated by Nat Trotman, associate curator, Guggenheim Museum, BWAC, Red Hook, New York

Misc, Art Finance Partners, New York

2010 Sweetcake Enso, travelling zendo exhibition, Empty Hand zendo, New Rochelle, New York

The Happy Tree, Monster Children & Element, Sydney Diversity in Dialogue, Muriel Guepin Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

The Art of Light, Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery, Berlin

2009 Hypothetical Landscapes, Janet Kurnatowski, Brooklyn, New York

W Hotel, White Gallery, New York

2008 Out of the Blue, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, Massachusetts

Places and Manners of Worship, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki, Greece

Theme of Compassion (in collaboration with gathering featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet), ArtXchange Gallery, Seattle, Washington

Lack of Desire, Brooklyn Arts Council, New York

2007 Duopolis, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Oakland, California Distilled Moments, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco

New Wave Contemporary, Galerie Sho, Tokyo

A Geneology of War, Homo Bellicus, Berlin Director’s Selection, Edith Caldwell Gallery, Sausalito, California

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS

Byzantine Museum, Athens (exhibition)

Chapman University, Orange, California (collection)

The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (exhibition)

Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, New York (solo exhibition)

PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

2012 Obon: Puerto Rico (outdoor, ephemeral public art commission), Fist Art Foundation, Puerto Rico

2011 Obon: Temple (outdoor public commission), Haein Art Project, one-hundred-eight luminous resin and phosphorescent cube sculptures for the millennial celebration of the Haeinsa Buddhist Temple, Korea

Reflectivity, September 11 memorial sculpture made from a twenty-four-inch piece of World Trade Center steel, for CalFire California Fire Department

After 9/11, September 11 memorial sculpture, created from thirty-foot pieces of World Trade Center steel, London

2010 Quietness, Non Denominational Chapel, San Francisco General Hospital

Obon [Meditation 1-8], Thanatopolis Outdoor Memorial Sculpture, Norwalk, Connecticut

Sakura Reichstag (temporary outdoor installation, invisible luminous paint on snow), Berlin Beautiful Night (invisible luminous wall mural), Safdi Plaza Realty, Brooklyn, New York

Shelter [Meditation 1-12], forty-feet installed, The Healing Place Non Denominational Chapel Woman’s Shelter, Louisville, Kentucky

2009 8-Fold Path, Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, Los Angeles

Let There Be Light, St. John’s Bread & Life Non Denominational Chapel, New York

HONORS AND AWARDS

2013 Bronx Museum AIM Residency

2012 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Award

Finalist, Bloom Art Award, Germany

2010 Thanatopolis Special Artist Award and Public Outdoor Commission

Puffin Foundation Grant Award

2009 Fundraiser Co-Chair, The Indigo Youth Movement, New York and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Public Ambassador, Element Advocate, International print and media campaign

2007 Honorable Mention, Jury Prize, Nascent Art, New York

RESIDENCIES

2012/13 Bronx Museum AIM Residency, New York

2009 Northern California’s Public Art Academy, San Jose, California

SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERIES

new york new york hong kong singapore

547 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 fax 212 677 4521• gallery@sundaramtagore.com

1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 • tel 212 288 2889

57-59 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong • tel 852 2581 9678 fax 852 2581 9673 • hongkong@sundaramtagore.com

01-05 Gillman Barracks, 5 Lock Road, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 • singapore@sundaramtagore.com

President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Hong Kong: Faina Derman Designer: Russell Whitehead

WWW.SUNDARAMTAGORE.COM

Text © 2014 Sundaram Tagore Gallery

Photographs © 2014 Miya Ando

Art consultants: Anne Coyle Teresa Kelley Bonnie B. Lee Deborah Moreau Benjamin Rosenblatt Raj Sen Melanie Taylor David Turchin Addison Ying

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover: Winter Blue Reflection, 2014, urethane, pigment and resin on aluminum, 36 x 36 inches/91.4 x 91.4 cm

Page 71: Koyo Autumn Transformation (detail), 2014, Bodhi Ficus religiosa skeleton leaves, dye and monofilament, 96 x 48 inches/243.8 x 121.9 cm