Haiga: Takebe Socho and the Haiku-Painting Tradition
An exhibition of Japanese poem-paintings (hanging scrolls, folding screens, and woodblock books) dating from the 17th through the 20th centuries. A little-known genre, haiga combines haiku verse, calligraphy, and painting in an expressive form where each medium adds different levels of meaning. Haiga suggestively and lyrically portray human responses to nature. Organized by the Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond, this is the first major exhibition of haiga in the United States.

Surimono: Privately Published Japanese Woodblock Prints
Like haiga, surimono are based on a combination of verse and image. Commissioned by poetry groups to be given as New Year's greetings and announcements of special events, these 19th-century woodblock prints are distinguished by exquisite detailing, embossing, and the use of gold and silver as well as by distinctively playful and cleverly composed poems. The surimono in this exhibition were borrowed from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as well as from the Collection of Barbara Bowman.

Yukinori Yanagi, Hinomaru
Contemporary Tokyo-based artist Yukinori Yanagi translates national icons into such varied materials as neon and ant farms. In the Hinomaru portfolio, a suite of six lithographs with embossing and collage, he analyses two stereotypical motifs: the "Rising Sun" (Hinomaru in Japanese) and the imperial chrysanthemum crest. Yanagi's metaphors are political in focus; his visual poetics critique social myths and ideologies of power with subtle emotion.

Inro en suite: Porcelain Miniatures by Armin Muller and Lynn Richardson
A selection of contemporary inro, ojime, and netsuke by celebrated Santa Barbara ceramists, Armin M?ller and Lynn Richardson. Based on accessories of traditional Japanese dress, their works explore the beauty of the commonplace through their imagery and references to haiku poetry and other literary forms.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
Select the Special Events link for the calendar of events associated with the Picturing Poetry exhibition.