Pacific Asia Museum Gajin Fujita

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

(Note: this entry is my make-up for a class absence)
Pacific Asia Museum's Gajin Fujita
At the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena right now is a small exhibit that connects to the traditional Japanese art of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) with a 21st century artist’s images of Japan. The artist, Gajin Fujita, born in 1972, is a Japanese American artist whose late father was a Japanese-born gardener and his mother, a restorer of antiques. Fujita combines not only classic Edo-style elements with urban street art images, but also combines mediums like gold and silver leaf and plasticized varnishes.
More contrasts in his show include images of the legendary Japanese samurai and the blue wave and the geometric patterns of traditional porcelain, with Los Angeles, gang-style graffiti and green-gray camouflage patterns. The viewer of Fujita’s large works sees East and West, tradition and youth, and moreover vibrant, humorous, and explosive imagery.
Japanese woodblock prints or ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) showed the growing affluent class of Japan in scenes of entertainment, landscapes, home, as well as recreated myths and cultural heroes. Noted for their details, composition, and delicate executions, the small woodblocks initially seem to be the opposite Fujita's large, “screaming” works. However, his artwork -- the craft of his images and combination of mediums -- is exquisite. H too examines cultural heroes, and finally, he also is capturing the tone and style of a cultural era.
The museum will further make the link back to the past, starting May 19, with works by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) whom they suggest is “perhaps the most important Japanese print artist of the late 19th century.” The museum promises that viewers of Yoshitoshi’s works – which includ legendary characters of Japan – will understand where Fujita gets some of his inspiration, especially in his composition.
These exhibits are valuable for the teacher who wants to use images of past and present to illustrate the modern, fierce imagination of Japanese author, Haruki Murakami. He carries with him the traditions of Japan, but confounds his readers with abstract, ambiguous plots, while still capturing themes of modern Japan.

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