Exhibition: Ohie Toshio and the Perfection of the Japanese Book

Start
Saturday, August 04, 2012
End
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Location
LACMA (Los Angeles, CA)

August 4, 2012 to October 21, 2012

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Pavilion for Japanese Art

5905 Wilshire Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90036

Meet the artist: Ohie Toshio

August 14 and 26, 2pm

September 11 and 30, 2pm

October 9 and 14, 2pm

At Pavilion for Japanese Art, level 3

(Free, no reservations required)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Ohie Toshio and the Perfection of the Japanese Book, the first solo museum exhibition for Japanese bookbinder and designer, Ohie Toshio (b. 1949). The show features forty-six art works including books with decorative bindings and original graphics for book illustration designed and made by Ohie and his collaborators. Ohie’s distinct use of materials and visual style, based in native Japanese aesthetics, convinced his local audience that books with decorative Image Caption page 3 bindings could be considered a luxury item. His thoughtful work embodies both traditional and contemporary styles and is produced with high quality materials, such as calf, goat or water buffalo skins, deluxe Japanese papers, and gilding. Furthermore, the complex texture and richness of his books are realized through his cooperative efforts with graphic designers, printmakers, photographers, and calligraphers. LACMA’s presentation is curated by Hollis Goodall, LACMA Curator of Japanese Art, and is on view from August 4-October 21 on the third level of the Pavilion for Japanese Art.

Exhibition Background

Ohie Toshio introduced decorative bookbinding to Japan in 1974 after studying both binding and tooling arts in France for five years. At the time, leather-bound books were not made or collected in Japan. Decorative bookbinding had to be aligned with Japanese taste before local audiences could appreciate it. By the mid-1980s, through Ohie’s efforts, patrons began to see their favorite works of literature as something to be treasured in a splendid binding. This was accomplished through his use of fine materials including deluxe Japanese papers(such as ganpi or mitsumata) in book interiors, mosaic-onlaid leathers (pre-cut and shaved pieces of leather in Japanese color harmonies, affixed to a leather binding), and the incorporation of frontispiece illustrations by highly popular Japanese graphic artists such as Yamamoto Yoko or Karasawa Hitoshi.

For more information, visit www.lacma.org

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