browngrotta arts is pleased to announce its forthcoming exhibition, Japandi: shared aesthetics and influences, exploring common approaches shared between Japanese and Scandinavian cultures through contemporary art. The show will feature 39 fiber and ceramic artists from Denmark, Finland, Japan, Norway, and Sweden. Opening September 25 through October 3, 2021.

Japandi is a hybrid union of Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetic approaches appreciated for its exceptional craftsmanship, simplicity and minimalism, reverence for nature and natural, sustainable materials, and the beauty of embracing imperfection. This union evokes a visual and physical sense of calm and tranquility.

The artistic kinship stretches back a century and a half ago when Japan’s closed border policy was lifted in 1858 and Danish designers and creatives began traveling to Japan. Early influence can be seen in ceramic crafts, architecture, and Danish furniture. After World War II, the Japanese government began promoting cultural exchange among designers and artists from Scandinavia.

Artists of Fiber Art and Modern Craft uniquely embody principal elements of what is currently termed Japandi style – from their use of natural materials and neutral color palettes to the fundamentally “slow art” process of hand craftsmanship. The core of their processes and materials are invoked with an intrinsic sense of contemplation, tranquility, and harmony that reverberates through their work and into the spaces the artworks inhabit. Unique basket forms may be made of bamboo, willow, cedar, or their earthly “scraps” such as branches, grasses, bark, and twigs. Materials come from regionally or locally sourced plant life or even backyard cultivation. Works made of soft materials such as linen, cotton, or wool are handwoven in meticulous detail act as textural counterpoints, adding warmth and calm in modern interiors. Both cultures make room for reuse, artful imperfection, and comfortable simplicity, through the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi and the Scandinavian idea of hygge.

Artists include Jane Balsgaard (Denmark), Birgit Birkkjær (Denmark), Gjertrud Hals (Norway), Norie Hatakeyama (Japan), Ane Henriksen (Denmark), Agneta Hobin (Finland), Kazue Honma (Japan), Mutsumi Iwasaki (Japan), Kiyomi Iwata (Japan), Tomika Kawata (Japan), Masakazu Kobayashi (Japan), Naomi Kobayashi (Japan), Yasuhisa Kohyama (Japan), Markku Kosonen (Finland), Kyoko Kumai (Japan), Åse Ljones (Norway),Kari Lønning (Norway), Keiji Nio (Japan), Mia Olsson (Sweden), Gudrun Pagter (Denmark), Toshio Sekiji (Japan), Hisako Sekijima (Japan), Kay Sekimachi (United States), Naoko Serino (Japan), Hiroyuki Shindo (Japan), Jin-Sook So (Korea/Sweden), Grethe Sørensen (Denmark), Kari Stiansen (Denmark), Noriko Takamiya (Japan), Hideho Tanaka (Japan), Tsuruko Tanikawa (Japan), Chiyoko Tanaka (Japan), Jun Tomita (Japan), Eva Vargo (Sweden), Ulla-Maija Vikman (Finland), Merja Winqvist (Finland), Grethe Wittrock (Denmark), Jiro Yonezawa (Japan), Masako Yoshida (Japan)

The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalog #52 of the same title.

Exhibition Hours: Sept 25, 11am to 6pm; Sept 26, 11am to 5pm; Sept 27 – Oct 2, 10am – 5pm daily; Oct 3, 11am to 5pm.

We will uphold current state and federal guidelines surrounding COVID-19. Advanced time reservations are mandatory, click here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/165829802403.

All photos by Tom Grotta, courtesy of browngrotta arts.