[photo credit: Shumei Arts Council]
Yoshio Ikezaki will demonstrate his painting technique at the opening reception for “Energetic Connections: The Ki Paintings of Yoshio Ikezaki,” a solo exhibition opening Sunday, October 4, at Shumei Hall Gallery in Pasadena.
The exhibition features works created over the past two decades, among them abstract landscapes shaped by Ikezaki’s use of water, sumi ink, handmade washi paper and ki — the vital energy known in Chinese as qi or chi. Before he begins painting, Ikezaki practices meditation and concentration, then wets the paper and applies ink.
Ikezaki was born in Kitakyushu, Japan, in 1953 and received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from Florida State University, where he concentrated in painting. He later spent six years in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, studying traditional handmade paper with master papermakers Shigemi and Shigeyuki Matsuo, and learned to make his own sumi ink. Since 1986 he has divided his time between the United States and Japan. He taught as a professor at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena and as visiting faculty at Tama Art University in Tokyo.
Japanese art historian Meher McArthur curated the exhibition, which is supported by Kylin Gallery of Beverly Hills.
The reception runs from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. After opening day, the free exhibition is on view Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Sunday, November 8.
Energetic Connections: The Ki Paintings of Yoshio Ikezaki will run on Sunday, October 4 at 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Shumei Hall Gallery, 2430 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, visit https://shumeiarts.org. Admission is free.