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"Kimono As Art" visits Canton Museum of Art

By Betty O'Neill-Roderick
Ohio.com

Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota opens at the Canton Museum of Art on February 9, 2009. This breathtaking exhibit features 40 giant landscape kimono of the Japanese Master who spent much of his lifetime perfecting a lost textile process called Tsujigahana.

The exhibit features Kubota's panoramic tapestry Symphony of Light, made up of 30 kimono, plus 12 other kimono celebrating the artist's reverence for nature. The Canton Museum of Art is the second stop for these exquisite pieces; the first was at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego, California. After the exhibit closes in Canton on April 26, 2009, the works will be returned to Japan.

"The Kimono exhibition is a rare and special opportunity for our community to view some of the greatest textile works of the 20th century," said M.J. Albacete, Executive Director of the Canton Museum of Art. "We are incredibly grateful to the Kubota family and the Timken Foundation for making this event possible."

Itchiku Kubota, who was born in 1917, learned the art of dyeing fabric at an early age. At the age of 20, he encountered an old silk textile in the Tokyo National Museum and was fascinated by its extraordinary beauty, complex design and saturated colors. Kubota studied the piece and that remnant became his inspiration to rediscover the lost art of Tsujigahana.

Tsujigahana made use of a simple, subtle dye technique that had been lost over centuries. Kubota promised himself that he would rediscover its secret. But World War II intervened and he found himself fighting in North Korea. He was taken prisoner by the Russians and spent time in a Siberian prisoner-of-war camp. The only thing that kept him going was the brilliant Siberian sun, and it became his inspiration for future work.

After his release in 1951 he devoted his life to finding this lost dyeing process, and through the years he refined his own labor-intensive reconstruction, which involved complex dyeing and drawing on oversized kimonos, frequently interwoven with gold or silver thread. The results are gloriously rich canvases of texture and color that critics have compared to French Impressionist paintings.

The Kimono exhibit is sponsored by the Timken Foundation and presented by the Canton Museum of Art, in cooperation with ArtsinStark-the County Art Council. The Museum is located at 1001 Market Ave. North; hours are Monday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $10, seniors and students - $7. For information on special events call 330-453-7666 or visit www.cantonart.org.

In addition to the museum exhibit, the Kimono celebration includes special events open to the public.

On Saturday, February 7, the Canton Museum of Art will be the scene of a Grand Opening Gala, featuring the culture of Japan. For reservations call 330-453-7666.

In conjunction with Kimono the Palace Theatre in Canton will present a series of films from Japan, and downtown restaurants will offer early bird Japanese inspired dinner specials prior to the films. For more information call 330-454-8171.

The Loretta Paganini Cooking School at Fisher Foods in North Canton will present cooking classes exploring Japanese cooking methods, traditions and specialty dishes. For more information call 440-729-1110.

An homage to nature and the passing of seasons, “Symphony of Light” consists of fifteen kimono depicting autumn and fifteen depicting winter.

Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota opens at the Canton Museum of Art on February 9, 2009. This breathtaking exhibit features 40 giant landscape kimono of the Japanese Master who spent much of his lifetime perfecting a lost textile process called Tsujigahana.

The exhibit features Kubota's panoramic tapestry Symphony of Light, made up of 30 kimono, plus 12 other kimono celebrating the artist's reverence for nature. The Canton Museum of Art is the second stop for these exquisite pieces; the first was at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego, California. After the exhibit closes in Canton on April 26, 2009, the works will be returned to Japan.

"The Kimono exhibition is a rare and special opportunity for our community to view some of the greatest textile works of the 20th century," said M.J. Albacete, Executive Director of the Canton Museum of Art. "We are incredibly grateful to the Kubota family and the Timken Foundation for making this event possible."

Itchiku Kubota, who was born in 1917, learned the art of dyeing fabric at an early age. At the age of 20, he encountered an old silk textile in the Tokyo National Museum and was fascinated by its extraordinary beauty, complex design and saturated colors. Kubota studied the piece and that remnant became his inspiration to rediscover the lost art of Tsujigahana.

Tsujigahana made use of a simple, subtle dye technique that had been lost over centuries. Kubota promised himself that he would rediscover its secret. But World War II intervened and he found himself fighting in North Korea. He was taken prisoner by the Russians and spent time in a Siberian prisoner-of-war camp. The only thing that kept him going was the brilliant Siberian sun, and it became his inspiration for future work.

After his release in 1951 he devoted his life to finding this lost dyeing process, and through the years he refined his own labor-intensive reconstruction, which involved complex dyeing and drawing on oversized kimonos, frequently interwoven with gold or silver thread. The results are gloriously rich canvases of texture and color that critics have compared to French Impressionist paintings.

The Kimono exhibit is sponsored by the Timken Foundation and presented by the Canton Museum of Art, in cooperation with ArtsinStark-the County Art Council. The Museum is located at 1001 Market Ave. North; hours are Monday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $10, seniors and students - $7. For information on special events call 330-453-7666 or visit www.cantonart.org.

In addition to the museum exhibit, the Kimono celebration includes special events open to the public.

On Saturday, February 7, the Canton Museum of Art will be the scene of a Grand Opening Gala, featuring the culture of Japan. For reservations call 330-453-7666.

In conjunction with Kimono the Palace Theatre in Canton will present a series of films from Japan, and downtown restaurants will offer early bird Japanese inspired dinner specials prior to the films. For more information call 330-454-8171.

The Loretta Paganini Cooking School at Fisher Foods in North Canton will present cooking classes exploring Japanese cooking methods, traditions and specialty dishes. For more information call 440-729-1110.



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