WAGON is delighted to announce the exhibition Atsuo Hukuda + Shuhei Fukuda: RYUHA = Inheritance of School of Art and Inheritance of Style of Art, which will be held at sleeper in Edinburgh.

Ryuha is a school of art in which stylised and structured skills, techniques and traditions are inherited collectively. This normally happens by bloodlines of the patriarch or through the students of the school – just as it does for Ikebana, tea ceremony, martial arts and others.

Atsuo Hukuda (b.1958) is a sculptor who has been concerned with ‘identity of Japanese art’ by employing traditional materials and techniques used in Japan, such as gold leaf. Shuhei Fukuda (b.1997) is an art student and a son of Hukuda. He is currently studying traditional Japanese painting, and exploring his own approach to the world by using traditional materials and techniques such as silver leaf. In this exhibition, therefore, we focus upon the proximity between the two artists – who coincidentally picked the same materials to work with, and are father and son. We try to recognise Ryuha once again – where skill/tradition/style/house are inherited collectively rather than individually – especially at a time when we say little about inheritance of tradition in the context of contemporary art. We also aim to re-discover the contrast between ‘personality’ favoured by Western modernism, and ‘collectivity’ attached to the Japanese characteristics. This would then lead us to explore wider discussions around the difference and/or identity between The West and The East.

In addition, this exhibition will coincide with Hukuda’s solo show at Duff House in Banff which relates to Rin-pa. Rin-pa is unique – even though it is known as one of the major schools/styles of traditional Japanese painting, it has been inherited and developed over time not by bloodlines or pupils, but by indirect relationships of followers with their own free-will and admiration. For this show, the Independent Curator Naoko Mabon (b.1982) temporarily ’inherited’ the concept of the series of exhibitions entitled SUKI-MONO-TACHI: Ways Since Rin-pa that Hukuda – who is also known as an active curator for over 35 years notably through his achievements at CONCEPT SPACE – has been curating since 1991. Hence it is hoped that both exhibitions will provoke a unique opportunity to think about ‘inheritance of school/style/house’ across cultures, generations and disciplines in a wider sense.

EXHIBITION DETAILS
Atsuo Hukuda + Shuhei Fukuda
RYUHA = Inheritance of School of Art and Inheritance of Style of Art
Curated by Atsuo Hukuda + Naoko Mabon
7 September – 7 October 2016
sleeper, 6 Darnaway Street, Edinburgh EH3 6BG
Monday – Friday 2pm – 5pm
Admission free
For more details on the exhibition please click here

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Also on view:
Atsuo Hukuda: SUKI-MONO: Ways Since Rin-pa – Duff House
Curated by Naoko Mabon
4 September – 23 October 2016
Duff House, Banff, Scotland AB45 3SX
Open daily 11am – 5pm, last entry 4.30pm
Admission fee required (for more details including ticket price please click here)