Araki, Tetsuo (1937 - 1984 )
Tetsuo Araki was a Japanese printmaker who studied artwork in both Tokyo and Paris and worked mainly in etching and aquatint. Araki was born in Tokyo and studied Western-style painting at Musashino Art University. He discovered his interest in printmaking through the work of German-French etching artist Johnny Freidlander on exhibition in the 1960 Tokyo International Print Biennial. In 1965, Araki moved to Paris, where he studied printmaking in Friedlander's workshop until 1969. He held his first solo exhibition in Paris in 1967. Though Araki was meant to open another solo exhibit in Brussels the following year, illness required him to return to Japan to recover in 1970. Araki received an award at the Krakow International Print Biennial (1968 and 1970), exhibited at the Vienna International Print Biennial, and participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide. In Japan, he continued his education under Tetsuro Komai at the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1976 and soon after exhibited in the Japan Print Association Exhibition. In 1978, he studied at the Tokyo Printmaking Institute where he explored diverse printmaking techniques. Araki died at the young age of 47.
Sosaku Hanga | Post-WWII Japanese Prints
The Sosaku Hanga or “creative print” movement emerged in the changing Japan of the early 20th century. The movement arose from a central tenant: the artist must participate in every aspect of production. As artists shed the traditional delegation of ukiyo-e production and explored each role themselves, the act of printmaking adopted a more spontaneous, expressive attitude. Artists explored with the knife, chisel, woodblock, and ink to push to the boundaries of their medium. Originally excluded from Japan’s formal art world, Sosaku Hanga began on the pages of magazines. It was not until 1919 that the first Sosaku Hanga exhibition opened in Tokyo. Ranging from figural to abstract, the movement flourished after WWII, and found a new, eager audience among American GIs. In this collection, Ronin Gallery presents masters of Sosaku Hanga such as Onchi, Ono, Munakata, Saito, Sekino, and Mori, as well as other post-war Japanese printmakers.
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