City Arts Center will celebrate the opening of its second contemporary arts exhibition of the 2012 season, “Soaring Voices: Recent Ceramics by Women from Japan,” with an open-to-the-public reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12 in the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.
The reception is free to attend and will include wine, hors d’oeuvres and music.
Soaring Voices includes 87 contemporary ceramic works by 25 women artists from Japan. The free, family-friendly exhibition will be on display June 12 through Aug. 25 during regular gallery hours (9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Closed Sundays).
According to City Arts Center Executive Director Mary Ann Prior, the exhibition demonstrates an important cultural shift in Japanese society toward individual women artists becoming recognized in an artistic realm traditionally held by men.
“Women have been highly active in the production of ceramics in Japan for thousands of years, but their names have been largely unknown,” Prior said. “We’re delighted to have the honor of displaying the high-caliber work of these extraordinary artists in our gallery, and at no cost to the public.”
Soaring Voices features pioneering ceramicists spanning generations, including members of the founding generation of Japanese female potters, such as Asuka Tsubio, Kiyoko Koyama and Takako Araki whose colorful works are innovative in form and concept. Other artists, including Eiko Kishi and Fuku Fukumoto, incorporate ancient literature and Noh traditions to create a context within their work of a deep connection with nature, a significant motif in the work of Japanese artists.
Soaring Voices is a touring exhibition that traveled to the New Otani Art Museum in Tokyo and the Shizuoka Art Gallery in Shizuoka, Japan, in 2008 and the Museé National de Céramique in Sevres, France, in 2009 before embarking on its North American tour.
Previous stops on U.S. tour have included: Sacramento, CA; Washington, DC; Denver, CO; Dallas, TX; Delray Beach, FL; Gainesville, FL; Tempe, AZ and Bellingham, WA. Following its stay at City Arts Center, the exhibit will travel to the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului, HI.
The exhibition was developed by The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga Prefecture and hus-10, Inc. International Arts & Artists is the tour organizer.
Local sponsors for Soaring Voices include: Allied Arts, Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy, Kirkpatrick Family Fund, Oklahoma Arts Council, Oklahoma City Community Foundation, the Simmons Foundation and the Skirvin Hilton.
SOARING VOICES INSTALLATION PROCESS EXAMPLE
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