Sonoma Valley Museum of Art Announces Exciting Next Exhibitions

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is pleased to announce two exhibitions opening Saturday, March 19th, Modern Twist: Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Sculpture, along with Thomas Ingmire: Contemporary Calligraphy. Modern Twist is an exhibition exploring the innovative shape of bamboo basketryart has taken since the mid 20th century. Thomas Ingmire: Contemporary Calligraphy, curated by guest curator Kate Eilertsen, explores the illuminating evolution of this internationally renowned calligrapher. This exhibition will shed light on his calligraphic process and provide insight into the awe-inspiring world of contemporary calligraphy through his books, calligraphic sheets with prints, poetry sheets, and sketchbooks.

Curated by Andreas Marks, currently at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and organized by the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture and International Arts and Artists, Modern Twist: Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Sculpture features an innovative selection of bamboo sculptures by the leading bamboo masters in Japan. The work comes from the Clark Center for Japanese Arts and Culture, and Many of the pieces have never been seen in the United States before now.

Bamboo is a foundational element of Japanese culture, shaping the country’s social, artistic and spiritual landscape. Although bamboo is an abundant natural resource, it is a challenging artistic medium with less than 100 professional bamboo artists working in Japan today. Mastering the art form requires decades of meticulous practice—learning how to harvest, split and plait the bamboo. Modern Twist brings the work of 17 of these artists, one a living National Treasure in Japan, to the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art. Their pieces display a mastery of the supreme technical skills inherent in their innovative and imaginatively crafted sculptures.

Originally from China, bamboo baskets have been made in Japan since the 8th century, from which time they were used to hold flowers for scattering during Buddhist rituals. In the 9th century, bamboo objects became intimately connected with Japan’s ceremonial tea presentations and flower arrangements. Non-utilitarian, artistic bamboo forms did not emerge until the mid-20th century. Since then, bamboo artists have proven to be highly creative, challenging the conventions of basketry and pushing their medium to new conceptual and technical limits.

Known worldwide, Thomas Ingmire is widely considered one of the most prominent practitioners of contemporary calligraphy working today. For many years, he has collaborated with writers and artists in the production of artists’ books and calligraphic sheets that combine his calligraphy with original works of art. These beautiful collaborative works exemplify his ability to visually translate poetry and literary texts into visual statements that expand literal meanings of texts by writers who include Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda, Quincy Troupe, Jack Hirschman, David Annwn, and others, which appear in dynamic interaction with original artworks by Joseph Goldyne, Oliver Jackson, Manuel Neri, and other artists.

Since the early 1980s, Ingmire has collaborated with Sonoma-based artist Joseph Goldyne to create unique books and sheets of calligraphy with prints. With Manuel Neri, he has produced a series of unique artists’ books that combine his calligraphy of poems by Federico García Lorca and Pablo Neruda with original drawings by Neri. He also recently collaborated on unique artists’ books that pair drawings by Oliver Lee Jackson with poetry by Quincy Troupe. Selections of these works as well as calligraphy study sheets will be on display. Through his books, calligraphic sheets with prints, poetry sheets, sketchbooks and more, Thomas Ingmire: Contemporary Calligraphy will delve deep into the artist’s creative process, exploring his evolution as an artist and calligrapher.

Thomas Ingmire, was born in 1942 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana,. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from The Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Both of these programs involved intensive graphic and fine arts studies. In the early 1970s Ingmire discovered calligraphy, and joined English master calligrapher and illuminator Donald Jackson’s one-year postgraduate program in the Art Department at California State University, Los Angeles. In 1977 he submitted work to the Society of Scribes and Illuminators (SSI) in London, and became the first foreign member to be elected as a Fellow of the SSI. In 1980, Ingmire received a Newberry Fellowship for a continuing study of calligraphy.

Exhibition Programming

TAKE (Bamboo) Workshop - March 19 and 20 • 11am–3pm

SVMA and Sonoma Cultural Exchange are thrilled to host this bamboo basketry workshop with visiting bamboo masters from Beppu, Ōita, in Japan.

The Way of Tea - March 26 • 1–3pm

Eiko Mouri, a certified teacher in the Omotesenke tradition, will give a demonstration of Chanoyu (tea ceremony) and a hands-on tea preparation workshop.

Calligraphy Today: Lecture by Thomas Ingmire - April 2 • 2pm
Mr. Ingmire will discuss the evolution of his own work as an accomplished fine art calligrapher.

About the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art:

Established in 1998, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is a membership supported 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that provides seasonal exhibitions of contemporary and modern art and educational and public programming for children, youth and adults. Its mission is to be, “a magnet of creative energy and cultural inspiration with exhibitions and educational programs that engage the community in the art and ideas of our time, encouraging curiosity and innovation.”

The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is
located at 551 Broadway, a half block
from Sonoma’s historic Plaza. Regular
Museum hours are 11am–5pm
Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is
$5 for adults. Children k–12 are admitted free, as are SVMA members. Additional information is available at www.svma.org or by calling (707) 939-7862.