SAMFA to Open New Japanese Masterworks Exhibit

The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to announce the opening of a beautiful new exhibit, Eastern Illumination: Japanese Masterworks by Shozo Sato and American Art Inspired by Japanese Traditions. The Opening Reception is free to the public and will include refreshments along with musical entertainment on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., during Art Walk. 

Shozo Sato, Professor Emeritus of the School of Art and Design, University of Illinois, has spent a lifetime disseminating the Japanese arts to the Western world. Since retirement, he has continued his work as a freelance artist in Fort Bragg, California. From childhood, Sato has been creatively involved with a wide range art forms, and he continues to present workshops and classes in Japanese painting techniques and calligraphy—namely sumi-e, suiboku-ga and shodo—in his studio in California and at the Japan House and the School of Art and Design, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For many years he was also Adjunct Professor for the Department of Art Theory and Practice, Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. 

Sato has received worldwide recognition for his work, and his awards include the prestigious Order of the Sacred Treasure with Rosette from the Emperor of Japan, among many, many others. He has served as a consulting curator on exhibits and has presented many lecture-demonstrations on sumi-e, shodo, the Tea Ceremony and the performing arts of Japan at many museums, community organizations, universities and colleges across the U.S. and internationally. Sato’s artwork is held in many notable public and private collections, and he has authored numerous books on Japanese arts and culture. A beautiful selection of ink paintings and painted screens by Shozo Sato will be on display in SAMFA’s third floor galleries, and during a two week visit here to San Angelo, he will give several free public lectures and teach a sumi-e workshop for local artists. 

Shozo Sato’s paintings and screens are created using traditional Japanese techniques, but three sculptors, whose art will also be on display, work in a contemporary style inspired by Japanese philosophy and traditions. Kana Harada (Dallas, TX), Linda Mihara (San Francisco, CA), and Joan Son (Houston, TX) will each have sculptures on display in SAMFA’s second floor gallery. 

The artists will be present at the Opening Reception on Thursday evening. In addition, there will be a Gallery Talk beginning at noon on Friday, September 19, in the second floor gallery and lobby. Artist Joan Son will also do an origami demonstration. The Gallery Talk and origami demonstration are free and open to the public. 

For more information on any of the exhibits please call the museum at 653-3333. The museum’s regular operating hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for senior citizens. Military personnel, students, children under 18 (and the adults who accompany them) are admitted FREE. 

The museum is supported by generous contributions from both individuals and businesses. This project is partially supported by funds from the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, the City of San Angelo, the Texas Commission on the Arts, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.