ABOUT THE GALLERY: The Williams Gallery of Princeton New Jersey is in the process of relocating to the South Florida area. Gallery owner Mary Lou Bock has directed her art gallery in Princeton since 1985. Representing an international group of artists from Japan, The Netherlands, Australia and the United States, Ms. Bock is delighted to join with her son William Bock, owner and director of Fine Art and Frames in Davie, Florida, in presenting this exhibit.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: Works by three of Japan's most esteemed printmakers, Susumu Endo, Katsunori Hamanishi, and Yoshikatsu Tamekane are on view at the Williams Gallery Annex. Each of the artists has an unique style and medium yet each respects and incorporates the Japanese aesthetic of supreme craftsmanship and attention to detail. Simultaneously they bring contemporary techniques and culture into their work with an underlying quality of ‘Zen’.

Contemporary prints from Japan have received wide recognition internationally, and the gallery’s artists are the recipients of an extraordinary number of honors and prizes at exhibitions throughout Europe, North and South America and Asia. The current work at The Williams Gallery is a continuing demonstration of the gallery’s interest in Japanese printmaking. A wide selection of work by these innovative printmakers are available.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Katsunori Hamanishi
Like the surrealistic paintings of Dali and Magritte, Hamanishi's mezzotints combine nature and abstraction. Born in Hokkaido, Hamanishi studied painting and graduated from Tokai University with a degree in Art in 1973 and next studied at the University of Pennsylvania on a grant from the Cultural Affairs Agency, 1987-88. He has won numerous prizes for his work, including the Ibiza International Print Biennial, the Grenchen International Triennial in Switzerland and the Valparaiso International Exhibition in Chile.

Now living in the Tokyo area, Hamanishi’s primary focus is printmaking. His works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum and the MOMA in New York; the Art Institute, Chicago; the Library of Congress, DC; Taipei Fine Arts National Museum; Krakow National Museum; Osaka National Museum of Art; and others. In September 2004 was honored in a two-man show along with venerated mezzotint artist Yozo Hamani at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, where he presented a demonstration of his own techniques.

Rope A, B and C
© 1980 Katsunori Hamanishi

Hamanishi’s subjects embody traditional Japanese symbols and images combined with a contemporary interpretation. Few contemporary artist have the time and patience to rock a plate with a mezzotint rocker long enough to produce the velvety black impression so characteristic of the best work. Hamanishi explains: "It is patience that is necessary to produce the jet-black texture peculiar to mezzotint; the foundation of infinite tones from black to white. This is similar to the grounding of an oil painting before the image is applied. To prepare the copper plates may take 10 – 13 hours using a process called ‘burring”. A comb-like tool is rocked methodically, vertically, horizontally and diagonally over the plate until it is completely covered with impressions made by its teeth. It is after the plate is burred that the drawing of the image into the prepared surface begins.”


Yoshikatsu Tamekane
Born in 1959, Yoshikatsu Tamekane studied at Sokei Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo. From 1991 to 1994 he lived in Paris while studying art at the Musee d’Orsay, the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou. He is a member of the Japan Print Association and has shown seven consecutive years in the prestigious CWAJ Print Show. He is known for his combination of technical prowess with a mystical aesthetic and vision.

Tamekane’s medium is woodblock printing. He uses handmade papers and water-based ink that allow him to manipulate light as deftly as any impressionist. He augments his woodblock with a technique called collograph, in which various materials are collaged onto the carved woodblock to provide texture on the surface of the print. He frequently adds rich textural qualities, such as silver and gold leaf to his work.

In September 2003, Mr. Tamekane was artist-in-residence at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. In May of that year, he had an exhibit of new work and gave a demonstration of his woodblock techniques at the Montgomery Center for the Arts. A selection on 30 new works and many earlier works are available to be seen. About his work the artist says, "I savor the past and also look forward to the next century as a time of hope and advancement for the human spirit”.

Susumu Endo
Susumu Endo blends photographic and non-photographic processes via computer, mixing the reality of the natural landscape with abstraction to create a singular surrealistic image – a mingling of nature and a space continuum. Born in 1933, Endo came to printmaking by way of graphic design. He uses the computer as a tool to enhance and manipulate his already exquisite photographs and drawings, which are then produced as lithographs. Endo says, “My basic concept of design is “space and space.” I feel there are different levels of consciousness that we can have of space, all coexisting at once. This is the concept that drives all the work I create. My main theme is the relationship of two different dimensions in space: the real and the imaginary.”

Endo graduated from the Kuwasawa Design School in 1962 and then spent 5 years in a small design studio. His art soon became recognized and after producing a calendar for Audio-Technica, his images have appeared commercially and in the collections of museums throughout Europe, The United States and Japan. His images employ a skill and beauty that challenge our sense of reality. In contrast with Endo’s use of leading edge technology his work evokes a meditative serene quality akin to the atmosphere of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. To Endo the tea ceremony is a vital part of his life.