Defining Japanese Nihonga Painting with Ken Shiozaki

In the increasingly global age it is more and more difficult to say with any certainty which arts truly belong to each country. Of course there are clear cut cases, but there is also a considerable grey area, take nihonga, meaning literally "Japanese painting", a term coined in the 19th century Meiji era Japan to differentiate from the Western paintings that started to flood into the country. Fundamentally nihonga is defined by the materials in its creation over the medium itself; pigments based in ground ore then dyed, punctuated with chalks of ground shell to add highlights, all fused in natural gelatin. Nihonga has the potential to vividly depict the times of any epoch, a bastion that calls to Japanese people even as elements of daily life veer towards Westernization. At first glance, you might think this a genre confined to the traditional, and yet while there is a side to nihonga that reflects the traditions of the past, many young people make it their calling to the present day, with most Japanese universities giving the course pride of place amongst their curriculums.

Ken Shiozaki is one artist who enjoys an orthodox education in nihonga at the respected Tama Art University and identifies as working in nihonga, but whose work has an undeniable originality in its delicate rendering of frequently bold subjects on a truly substantial scale. Even in his powerful rendering of the more traditional motifs of dragons, monkeys and flora, we find Shiozaki's subjects brimming with a force that could only come from an artist living in the here and now. This is primarily born of his wonderfully judged awareness of three dimensional spatial rendering, a technique that isn't found in the nihonga of the past. A product perhaps of Japan's own awareness of Western cultures, but crucially claimed in arrangement and execution, framed as it is in the materials and techniques of Japan.

For those who expect to only encounter nihonga in a temple or museum, this is an excellent entry point to see what a contemporary nihonga style can look like, and in his endearing subjects there is an immediacy that communicates instantly across all language and cultural barriers.

"A Tale of Beasts"
Ken Shiozaki Nihonga Exhibition

Dates

April 20^th - 26^th (Closes at 5pm on the final day)

Location

Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Building 6F, Arts Salon

Floor guide