Exhibit Opening: "Spirits Among Us"

Yōkai Paintings by Minako Ota

Artist Minako Ota discusses and answers questions about her exhibit of yōkai paintings on display in the second floor Reading Room through June 26.

Light refreshments will be served.

This exhibition presents 25 yōkai works created by Minako Ota. Yōkai painting is an important genre in Japanese art with a long history. From Heian-period tales and medieval picture scrolls to Edo-period ukiyo-e, people have visualized, depicted and passed down stories of unseen beings. In this body of work, she reinterprets yōkai through her own contemporary sensibility while drawing on traditional styles. The accompanying texts for each piece introduce the background and origins of the individual yōkai.

About the Artist: Born in Osaka, Japan, Minako studied traditional Japanese painting at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Upon graduation, she attended Cambridge University in England where she focused on western painting conservation. Since she left her native country some 30 years ago, she has submerged herself in western cultures in the US and Europe. Her artwork is a cultural hybrid between Japan and the West, as she combines western painting techniques that she learned through her 20+ years as a professional painting conservator and the traditional Japanese aesthetics that she grew up in. She has worked for some of the world’s great museums, including Victoria and Albert in London and The Chicago Art Institute. Her work has been exhibited in Japan, Russia, USA and France.

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