The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation gallery is the scene of the first major solo exhibition in London by Katsutoshi Yuasa, featuring the artist's monochrome woodcuts based on his own photographs. The woodcuts are intended not so much as observations as contemplations of the world around the artist and his audience at large, and therefore invite more questions than they reveal. The exact source of the images feels uncertain, with delicate, semi-abstract representations of domestic objects and scenes, cityscapes and flora, at once containing the pin-sharp realism of a photograph while revealing something more fragile -- as if part of the image has somehow been stripped away.
Converting a photograph into a woodcut involves a lengthy process. In order to attain the purity and essence of the image, the photograph is processed digitally in monochrome, then the resulting image is carved from a wooden panel with a traditional Japanese knife. The final result is printed by hand on paper.
Yuasa’s sharp eye in combination with the use of modern and traditional techniques results in woodcuts in which time seems to have stood still and the beauty and mystery behind the everyday world is laid bare.
In October 2008, Yuasa’s work was selected for 10, as one of the ten successful graduates of the printmaking course from the last decade. This exhibition was held to commemorate the retirement of Professor Chris Orr RA at the Royal College of Art,
Katsutoshi Yuasa (b. 1978, Tokyo) completed his MA in Fine Art, Printmaking at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2005. He has had several solo and group shows internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include Woodcuts at The Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen (2008), The World is overflowing with light at the CIBONE Gallery, Tokyo (2007), and Floating World at the ASPN Galerie, Leipzig (2006). Group exhibitions include 10 at the Royal College of Art (2008), and Originals 05 at the Mall Gallery, London (2005). He is currently an artist-in-residence at The Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris.
Echoes through nature: Woodcuts by Katsuotoshi Yuasa is organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in association with Mark Jason Gallery and TAG Fine Arts.
Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP. T 020 7486 4348
