Exhibition in UK 2010

Rebirth:
An exhibition of contemporary Japanese art and Japanese inspired art in collaboration with the Unearthed exhibition
at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

Art1821 presents Rebirth (Thursday 29th July ? Saturday 4th September). The exhibition showcases the work of eight contemporary artists. Japanese artists Sahoko Aki, Megumi Baba, Tsunaki Kuwashima, Keika Sako and UK based artist Shaun Caton have produced works in response to ancient Jomon culture considering Jomon existence, how encounters with small objects affect our perceptions of the world, connections between contemporary art and ancient art and the role of archaeology and culture in the making of identities. Veronica Grassi, Jazz Green and Barbara Leaney’s art works reference the meditative and philosophical nature of Japanese culture in the translation of aesthetics which are synonymous with contemporary Japanese arts.

Unearthed (until 29th August) brings together prehistoric ceramic figurines from the Balkans and Japan for the first time. Over 100 figurines from Albania, Macedonia, Japan, Romania and the UK are on display. These include ornate Jomon figurines (known as dogu) from the Robert & Lisa Sainsbury collection. The exhibition offers you the opportunity to get up close to those tiny, enigmatic figurines and to consider some of the mysteries of these ancient objects. There is a series of contemporary art works (including works by Shaun Caton and Tsunaki Kuwashima) which challenge us to think more widely about figurines and the expression of the human form.

REBIRTH...
...An ancient culture revisited, rediscovered, readdressed, revitalised and remade.