{"id":3725,"date":"2025-12-31T11:03:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2025-12-31T11:03:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:03:34","slug":"modern-japanese-printmakers-celebrates-vibrant-mid-20th-century-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=3725","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Modern Japanese Printmakers\u2019 Celebrates Vibrant Mid-20th-Century Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u2018Modern<\/p>\n

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as industrialization swelled and advances in science and health paralleled social and economic transformation, artists searched for ways to express the changing times. Fatigued with the traditions and values of conservative society, which increasingly felt at odds with the way the world was heading, artists began to seek new visual languages in painting, architecture, and design.<\/p>\n

What started as dalliances with non-academic painting in the late 1800s\u2014think Vincent van Gogh<\/a> and the Impressionists\u2014burgeoned into a full-throttle movement, especially after World War I. Kasimir Malevich\u2019s \u201cBlack Square<\/a>\u201d (1913), for one, marked a turning point in Western art when he broke down the boundary between representation and abstraction\u2014it\u2019s thought to be the first time an artist made a work that wasn\u2019t of<\/em> something. After World War II, modernism took off, and its influence on art continues to resonate around the globe.<\/p>\n

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Yayanagi Go (Tsuyoshi), \u201cFlower Like the Blue Sky\u201d (1982), silkscreen print, 15 1\/2 \u00d7 15 1\/2 inches. \u00a9 Tsuyoshi (Go) Yayanagi. Image courtesy of Kumo Arts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the early-to-mid-20th century in Japan, creatives and tastemakers looked to both their own traditions, such as the rich legacy of ukiyo-e<\/a><\/em>, and to the West. Forthcoming from Penguin Random House, Modern Japanese Printmakers: New Waves and Eruptions<\/a><\/em> celebrates the trailblazing artists who innovated unique techniques, merged traditional mediums with new methods, and reveled in experimentation.<\/p>\n

As Japan\u2019s consumer culture blossomed in the early 20th century, and society adopted technologies and pop culture influences from abroad, artists also embraced modernity. Takea Hideo<\/a>, for example, reimagines ukiyo-e<\/em> imagery into surreal, dreamlike tableaux. And Funsaka Yoshiuke<\/a> creates playful chromatic experiments using repeated motifs like lemons, black dots, grids, and multi-hued strips of color.<\/p>\n

Authored by Malene Wagner, the volume covers the gamut of printmaking techniques, from woodblock and lithograph to silkscreen and monoprints, illuminating the virtually endless ways artists can translate imagery onto paper.<\/p>\n

Modern Japanese Printmakers<\/em> contains more than 100 full-page images and highlights a wide range of practices, from Ay-O<\/a>\u2019s explosively vibrant, psychedelic compositions to Ruth Asawa<\/a>\u2019s lithographs exploring the relationship between nature and geometry. Slated for release on January 13, the book is available for pre-order now on Bookshop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ruth Asawa, \u201cDessert Plant (TAM.1460)\u201d (1965), lithograph. \u00a9 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., courtesy of David Zwirner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Takea Hideo, \u201cThe Heike Clan\u2019s Capital\u201d from the series \u2018Genpei\u2019 (1985-99), silkscreen print, 20 3\/4 \u00d7 15 1\/2 inches. \u00a9 Hideo Takeda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Yoshida Hodaka, \u201cMambo\u201d (1956), monoprint, 32 3\/4 \u00d7 46 1\/2 inches. \u00a9 Ayomi Yoshida<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ay-O, \u201cWell! Well! Well!\u201d (1974), silkscreen print, 28 1\/2 \u00d7 20 inches. \u00a9 Ay-O<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ruth Asawa, \u201cUntitled (TAM.1558-II, Addie\u2019s Chair (Reverse))\u201d (1965), lithograph. \u00a9 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., courtesy of David Zwirner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Funsaka Yoshiuke, \u201cLemon, Black and White, No. MM171\u201d (2015), woodblock print, 8 1\/4 \u00d7 8 inches. \u00a9 Yoshisuke Funasaka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Yoshida Hideshi, \u201cWhy is this coffee cup so small?\u201d (2024), woodblock print, 13 \u00d7 9 1\/2 inches. \u00a9 Hideshi Yoshida<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sato Ado, \u201cTime Tunnel\u201d (1968), silkscreen print, 25 1\/2 \u00d7 30 inches. \u00a9 Ado Sato, courtesy of the Ado Sato family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article \u2018Modern Japanese Printmakers\u2019 Celebrates Vibrant Mid-20th-Century Innovation<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as industrialization swelled and advances in science and health paralleled social and economic transformation, artists searched for ways to express the changing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}