Student-Curated Exhibition Explores Japan’s Modern Transformation Through Woodblock Prints
Students select works to be included in the 2019 senior studio-art exhibition. Photo courtesy of Wei Ren.
Senior art-history exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints captures excitement, anxiety of an era
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Tokyo’s gleaming steel Azuma bridge was a technological wonder when it was opened to the public in the 1880s, and it was a sharp departure, visually and symbolically, from the traditional wooden bridge that had stood in its place. You can see the thrill and tension behind that transition from old to new in two Japanese woodblock prints—one depicting the romantic curved bridge of the earlier era and the other an angular harbinger of a faster-moving age.
Both of these works are included in “Timely and Timeless: Japan’s Modern Transformation in Woodblock Prints,” the 2019 senior art-history exhibition, which showcases works by Japanese woodblock artists of the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Depicting scenes from everyday life during a time of rapid cultural shift, these artists both recorded and helped establish an evolving national identity and Japan’s understanding of its place in the world.
The exhibition emerges from a capstone course for seniors in Dickinson’s art-history program, Fiona Clarke, Isabel Figueroa, Mary Emma Heald, Chelsea Kramer, Lilly Middleton, Cece Witherspoon and Adrian Zhang, under the direction of Assistant Professor of Art & Art History Wei Ren, a specialist in East Asian art.
Inspired by the existing prints donated to the Trout Gallery, Ren suggested the theme, and the students began by viewing the works purchased with the funds from the Friends of The Trout Gallery and selecting which ones they would include in their joint exhibition. Each student then researched a certain aspect of the exhibition—an artist, a theme, a particular work or grouping of works—and wrote an essay of original scholarly research for inclusion in an exhibition catalogue the students codesigned.
“Many classes were spent reading, discussing and learning about Japanese woodblock prints and their extensive history, but more were spent analyzing the prints right in front of us, which is very rare for any art historian,” notes Heald, who researched the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894, a major turning point for Japan. “My peers and I were even given opportunities to voice our own opinions about print purchases made for the show, which resulted in another Hiroshige addition for the Trout Gallery's collection.”
To deepen students’ understanding of the medium, Ren organized a field trip to view East Asian art at the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington, D.C., and also arranged for Professor of Art Ward Davenny to present a hands-on workshop in woodblock-printmaking so students could better understand the process.
Students learned to make woodblock prints to deepen their understanding of the medium. Photo courtesy of Wei Ren.
Finally, it was time to design the exhibition. Together, the students decided on gallery flow, selected wall and frame color as well as other aspects of the exhibition, and worked with gallery staff to hang the show.
“Although we focused heavily on our research, the time we spent designing and curating the show has given me a superior insight into exhibition design,” said Middleton, who researched the ways that Kishio Koizumi, a prominent woodblock print artist in the early 1900s, helped promote consumerism and in turn helped propel the economy and Japanese militaristic efforts abroad.
“We learned how to render information accessible to a diverse audience, a skill which translates into any number of fields post-graduation,” noted Clarke, who studied the landscapes of Hiroshige. “This has been the most consistently engaging class I’ve ever had.”
“Timely and Timeless” will be on display at The Trout Gallery at Dickinson College, Weiss Center for the Arts, from March 1 through April 13. The gallery will host an opening reception on Friday, March 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.
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Published February 27, 2019