Date: Wednesday, September 17
Guest Speaker: Yuji Hiratsuka, a Professional Printmaker
Title: Ukiyo-e’s Influence on My Artwork
Format: Hybrid/In-person luncheon for members and invited guests, and via Zoom for members and their guests or non-members wishing to participate online
Time: In Person 11:00 to 14:00 (JST) – Doors open at 10:30
Via Zoom 11:00 to 12:30 (JST)
Fee: ¥7,000 for in-person/¥8,000 for in-person non-members
¥1,000 for online (Zoom link provided once registered)
In-person: Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ)
3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005
Fifth floor of Marunouchi Nijubashi Building
RSVP: In-person, by September 9. Non-refundable after September 9
Online by September 15. Non-refundable if you reside in Japan
*This fee helps to cover virtual operation costs for CWAJ hybrid meetings including IT support.*
Registration link: https://cw3saoj.wildapricot.org/event-6277149
**Members are welcome to register their guests, and non-members can sign up for the online presentation by indicating who introduced them to CWAJ.
SUMMARY:
Yuji Hiratsuka, a print artist contributing to the CWAJ Print Show 35 consecutive times, mixes influences of East and West in his work. There is less of an emphasis on socio-cultural commentary and more of an emphasis about the placement and interplay of the visual effects. Mr. Hiratsuka plays with the metaphorical aspects of his subjects and their settings by portraying the irony, paradox, and satire in people’s daily lives. His images bear a slight resemblance to traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, which were frequently decorative, brightly colored and featured highly stylized exaggerated and distorted figures, while also expressing contemporary aspects of the western world. Mr. Hiratsuka will explain the unique technique of his multicolor intaglio (etching) printmaking process. The process begins with a deep etching printed on a sheet of kozo mulberry paper in black, after which the plate is reclaimed and re-etched for subsequent printing in yellow, red, and blue. In addition, Mr. Hiratsuka often applies five or six extra layers of color as desired to enhance the image.
PROFILE:
Yuji Hiratsuka was born in Osaka, Japan, and received a bachelor’s degree in art education from Tokyo Teachers’ University in 1978. He taught art at several high schools and junior high schools in Osaka until he moved to the United States in 1985 to pursue graduate degrees in printmaking at New Mexico State University and Indiana University. He taught printmaking, book arts and drawing at Oregon State University for the past three decades. His intaglio prints are in public collections including the British Museum, London, UK; State Museum of Oriental Arts, Moscow, Russia; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Freer/Sackler, The Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C.; The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts; Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio; The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; University of Oregon, Oregon; de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California. Many members will recognize his style.
Dates for 2025 General Meetings:
October 8 – Zoom Meeting – Annual voting of elected officers and voting on two constitutional amendments followed by a presentation by Mitsuhiro Iwamoto, first blind Japanese sailor to cross the Pacific Ocean in 2019
November 12 – Zoom Meeting
December 3 – Hybrid/Year End festive holiday luncheon at KKR Hotel, Takebashi
General Meeting Team:
Director: Shigeko Nagaoka
Program Coordinator: Ko Iwata
Meeting Managers: Joan Rodgers Doi and Rina Jiang
Zoom and WA Technical support: Rina Jiang and Rumi Nagashima
Contact: generalmeetingmanagers@cwaj.org
