Exhibition Of Works By Kimono Artist Itchiku Kubota

San Diego Museum Of Art And Timken Museum Of Art Present Rare Exhibition Of Works By Kimono Artist Itchiku Kubota.

San Diego, CA - The San Diego Museum of Art, in a unique collaboration with the Timken Museum of Art, the Canton Museum of Art, Ohio, and the Itchiku Kubota Art Museum, Japan, is presenting a major exhibition of works by internationally recognized kimono artist Itchiku Kubota (1917–2003). On view at both the San Diego Museum of Art and the Timken from November 1, 2008, through January 4, 2009, Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota features 40 monumentally scaled kimono by Kubota that have seldom been seen outside of Japan and that will be presented for the first time since his inaugural international exhibition in 1980 in Fullerton, CA. The exhibition includes a selection from his Mt. Fuji series, depicting Japan’s most famous mountain, and Symphony of Light, the centerpiece of his career.

Kubota used a variety of traditional techniques and personal innovations to create his masterpieces. Through a complex layering of dyes, inks, and embroidery, he produced shimmering, abstract landscapes on eight-foot-tall kimono. A single kimono could take up to one year to complete and was created for exhibition purposes rather than to be worn. Kubota was fascinated with the effects of light on color and often used nature as a subject in his works.

On view at the Timken are six works, including a selection of kimono from Kubota’s Mt. Fuji series—a popular subject in the arts of Japan. The three large-scale kimono from this series depict Japan’s most famous and sacred mountain at different times of day. In addition, three other individual pieces will be on display in the gallery, showing the range of Kubota’s work, including his dramatic early work, Gen, with cascading cherry blossoms.

On view at SDMA is the centerpiece of the exhibition and Kubota’s lifework, Symphony of Light. This dramatic presentation features 30 kimono placed side-by-side depicting fall and winter from a projected series of the four seasons. The subtle changes of color and the quality of light achieved through skillful dyeing and the clever exploitation of the light-reflective properties of silk make this a breathtaking, panoramic installation. Since Kubota planned for Symphony of Light to consist of 80 kimono, his studio continues production under the supervision of his sons. In addition, a selection of four of Kubota’s individual works will round out SDMA’s presentation.

“The work of Itchiku Kubota is spectacular to behold," says SDMA Executive Director Derrick R. Cartwright. “This is a unique opportunity for American audiences to view the extraordinary works of Itchiku Kubota, and we are proud to have partnered with the Timken Museum of Art and the Canton Museum of Art in bringing these important works to the United States.”

Itchiku Kubota was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1917. He learned the art of dyeing at age 14 when he apprenticed himself to Kobayashi Kiyoshi, a Tokyo kimono artist. At age 20, he visited the Tokyo National Museum and saw an old silk textile remnant of tsujigahana (tsu-jee-ga-ha-na), a traditional dye technique that had been forgotten over time. Kubota spent more than 70 years searching for the secret behind tsujigahana, finally understanding it and creating his own form of the technique which he called Itchiku Tsujigahana.

In 1961, Kubota opened his own studio, the Itchiku Kōbō (Itchiku Atelier), in Tokyo where he became well-known for his new technique that allowed him to achieve a delicate mix of colors, finally conquering the problem of synthetic dyes becoming muddy when colors are overdyed. Kubota worked tirelessly to perfect it over the next fifteen years, and in 1977, at the age of 60, held the first exhibition of his personal work. From then until his death in 2003, he pursued his dream of establishing his own museum, the Itchiku Kubota Art Museum (at Lake Kawaguchi near Mount Fuji), and working on the Symphony of Light series.

After its run in San Diego, Kimono as Art will be on view at the Canton Museum of Art in Canton, Ohio, from February 7 through April 26, 2009. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue with a foreword by all three museum directors, over 150 color illustrations, and two scholarly essays, including one by the exhibition’s guest curator and Asian textile specialist, Dale Carolyn Gluckman.

Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota is organized by the San Diego Museum of Art and the Timken Museum of Art, and is made possible by support from the Timken Foundation of Canton, The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, and Members of the San Diego Museum of Art.

Date : November 1, 2008 - January 4, 2009.

Time : Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sunday: 1:30-4:30 p.m

Location : Crocker Art Museum.

Cost : Admissin is Free.