Onishi Gallery is proud to collaborate with interior design magazine Traditional Home on a unique holiday exhibition, Japanese Contemporary Art & Modern Living. Featuring actual room vignettes, this show introduces Japanese art and design into the American home through the work of New York-based interior designer Patrik Lönn.
Specializing in the integration of Western and Eastern aesthetics through former design projects including the Baccarat Residences, Lönn will design two domestic sets for this exhibition: a living room and a dining room. The Living Room vignette will draw visitors into a sleek, modern American interior decorated with Japanese art objects including ceramics and metalwork created by several of Japan’s most acclaimed Living National Treasure artists. The Dining Room vignette will similarly illustrate how Japanese design can be incorporated into American domesticity through artful placement of serving plates and cups - made by Japanese high-end craft manufacturers such as Gyokusendo - and table runners made using the traditional weaving and dyeing techniques of Okinawa. With the smooth sheens of copperware cups, the “cracked ice texture” of silver dinner plates, and the vibrant orange hues of the fiber art table runners, these modern Japanese objects will redefine the American modern home while seamlessly fitting into it.
In addition to these home objects, the artwork of legendary Japanese artists including calligrapher Yu-ichi Inoue will be featured in the Living Room vignette. Inoue’s hanging scrolls demonstrate an avant-garde approach to traditional Japanese design; his broad and fierce brushstrokes break from both conformity and expectation.
Representing the strength of this new partnership between Onishi Gallery and Traditional Home is the additional news that this opening is the kick-off exhibition for Onishi Gallery’s latest venture, Future Japan, launching fully in 2017. Future Japan: Heritage of Japan for the Modern World is a cross-cultural strategic marketing program for Japan’s heritage arts and crafts sector. This program will promote Japan’s artistic and cultural expression by bringing its stories to the U.S. public. Onishi Gallery will work with prominent American designers to showcase the functionality and beauty of Japanese arts, crafts, fashion, furniture, and architectural materials in American contexts, both supporting Japanese artisans and encouraging Americans to travel to Japan to learn first-hand. Visit the Holiday Show: Japanese Art & Contemporary Living to preview the powerful union of Japanese traditional arts with modern American design.