Namiki, Hajime (1947 - Present)
Hajime Namiki was born in Tokyo. He studied sculpture under the famous Shigeru Ogura, before becoming a woodblock print artist. Namiki's work is highly innovative as he pushes to find new techniques to depict familiar subjects from nature. His style is based on the use of a limited palette, using both silver and gold leaf. Hajime Namiki's prints can be found in numerous collections including the White House and the LA County Museum of Art.
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.
