Asano Katsumi Exhibition

Oct 14 - 31, 2010

10:00am-6:30pm
Closed: Tuesdays (by appointment) and Wednesdays
Venue／Artland Gallery　
Exhibiting／Copper prints ... about 30

Press Release

ATLAND GALLERY is pleased to present an exhibition by Asano Katsumi , a Tokyo-based artist who has been showing etchings of fantastical images in solo exhibitions, as well as illustrations and book covers for novels and picture books. This will be her first solo exhibition at the gallery.

Asano Katsumi began thinking about pursuing a career in illustration when she was in high school. Although she studied illustration in a correspondence course, her employment did not lead directly to that path, and one day, after many twists and turns, an encounter with Itsuko Azuma's copperplate book paved the way for her to become an artist. In 1989, Asano won the top prize in the 9th "Poetry and Fairy Tales" Illustration Contest. She has since developed her work as a book illustrator and illustration artist, as well as exhibiting her copperplate prints.

Asano's specialty is to create illustrations and book illustrations based on the words of novels and poems, as she has an irresistible love for books. Her main motif is a favorite man who is young and beautiful.　
In "Oni Yasha," a young man who gives off the atmosphere of a bisexual man embracing a Noh mask of a woman who surrenders herself to sensuality illuminated by a candle, seems to be searching for a mysterious and pathetic fusion of male and female love, as if the absurdity of their inability to be one even if they were to be together is symbolized in the young man's eyes.

The artist comments on his work "Secret Play" as "Midnight, Secret Play (H-kun). Asano is extremely fond of the expression on the young man's face as it communicates with the false image reflected in the mirror, and it seems as if the artist herself is enjoying the pleasure of immersion in the fantasy world created through the process of expressing her thoughts in dotted dots.

This exhibition will feature about 30 copperplate prints of a size that can be easily displayed at home. Some of them are illustrations for the covers of "Genyo-hen" (a collection of fantasy novels) selected by Minagawa Hiroko and "Yami no Soko no Silky" (Silky at the Bottom of the Darkness), a British children's book. We hope that many visitors will enjoy the exhibition.