Iwami, Reika (1927 - 2020 )
Reika Iwami was a Sosaku Hanga artist known for her abstract compositions. Muted in color, sensitive to natural textures, and embellished with gold and silver, her work marks a significant contribution to the Sosaku Hanga, or “Creative Print,” movement. Born in Tokyo, she grew up in Kyushu. She began her artistic career at Bunka Gakuin in Tokyo, where she explored oil painting, doll making under the Living National Treasure Ryujo Hori, and printmaking. In 1954, exposure to the works of Koshiro Onchi, a key figure of the Sosaku Hanga movement, shifted Iwami’s focus to printmaking. She studied under Onchi’s students Jun’ichiro Sekino and Takumi Shinagawa and quickly made a name for herself as a modern woodblock print artist. She joined the Japan Print Association in 1955. In 1957, she co-founded the Women’s Print Association with nine other Japanese female printmakers. Throughout her career, she regularly exhibited her work internationally. Her work can be found in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, British Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, and the Library of Congress.
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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