A21 International Art Exhibition is a group of Japanese artists located in Osaka (the second most important, after Tokyo &, cultural centre of Japan) and the Kansai region. The creator and curator of the group is Mr Tomio Matsuda. In Japan, artists joining together to form a group is a natural form of activity in contrast to the Western art world, where attention is focused on the individual.
Since its inception in 2001, the A21 International Art Exhibition group has gained immense reputation. The artists exhibit in Western European countries, Germany, Poland, France and the United Kingdom, and in the countries of the East, like China, South Korea and Japan.
The A21 International Art Exhibition group consists of more than 100 artists from various fields.
A21 were invited for the first time to Poznan by Dr Katarzyna Kujawska-Murphy and collaborates with the artistic environment of Poznań since 2000.
Constant artistic exchange has been established with the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań
Due to the variety of expression of the invited artists we will be able to meet a whole range of contemporary Japanese art. From works with understated expression to painting, to art glass to installations.
In contrast to the Western culture with its need of analysis and naming the world around the man of the East is focused on clearing the mind of thought or on contemplation of the world around him. This approach is associated with Zen Buddhism.
Many of the A21 artists practice Zen. This translates into their work.
Zen recommends that before you start creating, you should clear your mind. When one creates, the whole universe is present at the top of the brush. The mind is free from concepts, internal dialogue, patterns, names it is clean and unlimited.
An important aspect is the technique of the created works. Mostly these are own techniques requiring weeks of systematic work. Very often, the artists themselves make the paper that later on is used in their works.
Exhibition open until 04.08.2013
Exhibition under the honorary patronage of the Embassy of Japan in Poland
“l would like to thank everyone who has been cooperating with the art group A-21 for more than ten years in organising international exhibitions of art. The aesthetics oflapanese artists evolves and improves with every international exhibition. However, they remain purely Japanese. Artists ofthe Cherry Blossom country seem to say: ,,We are Japanese with each work presented abroad. To overseas countries we present a unique aesthetic stemming from tradition, especially important was the time around the year 1450 -the period of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa’s rule. During that time there was a great blossoming of Japanese culture. Also at that time the famous tea ceremony (Sado) had developed, the traditional sliding door (syouji) had formed, the traditional mats (tatami) had become popular, the aesthetics and worldview (wabi sabi) had flourished, all of which are the essence of the Japanese way of perceiving and describing the world. Please note that the specific aesthetics of Japanese works associated with color as a form of life, the beauty of momentum, the
beauty of decay, etc.. l hope that this exhibition will allow visitors to see the beauty of Japan, its atmosphere and will present the unique Japanese artistic view.”
Member of the A-21 International Art Exhibition
Tomio Matsuda
Artists: Tomio Matsuda/
Mitsuko Chapa Miyakawa/
Fusayo Kishino/
Akemi Shunol
Aishu Gen /
Yoko Aoyama/
Akiko Morita/
Nao Moritsu /
Masako Matsumura/
Yumiko Okazaki /
Isao Komatsu /
Ryohsuke Yamauchi/
Eiko Negishi/
Masako Fukuoka/
Lemon Minakata/
Teruko Katao /
Hisayo Fukuyoshi/
Toshiko Suehisa/
Nobuyoshi Watanabe/
Yukari Fujimoto/
Mineyo Nakamura/
Masashi Suzuki/
Chika Fujiwara/
Hsieh Ting-Hua/
Shuang-Hua,Yen/
Huang Ming-Ying/
Huarnng Feng-Jye/
Huang Hsiang/
Hsiang- Liang Hsu/