Art encounters
solo exhibition by Sisyu
from 16 to 27 August 2023
Archaeological Museum of Olbia
opening 16 August 2023
The Luciana Matalon Foundation and the Municipality of Olbia are pleased to announce “Art Encounters“, a solo exhibition by the Japanese artist Sisyu, curated by Nello Taietti and on show from the 16th to the 27th of August 2023 at the Archaeological Museum of Olbia.
“Art Encounters” is the second institutional exhibition in Italy by artist and calligrapher Sisyu who, through her practice, re-elaborates and re-adapts elements of the Japanese artistic tradition to contemporary languages.
On the occasion of the opening of the exhibition, on August 16 the artist will carry out a live painting performance evoking the previous ones already held in national and international institutions. Mr Settimo Nizzi, Mayor of Olbia, and Mr Nello Taietti, president of the Luciana Matalon Foundation and curator of the exhibition, will speak during the ceremony.
The resulting work from the performance will be donated to the Archaeological Museum of Olbia as a gift to the institution and its city.
The title of the exhibition, “Art Encounters“, refers to the exchange between cultures connected by an invisible thread – EN (縁) – which in the Japanese tradition leads to an inevitable and predestined “meeting” – represented with the ideogram AU (逢). It is no coincidence that Sisyu chooses the circle – ENSŌ (円相) – one of the most common subjects of Japanese calligraphy, as the representative symbol of the project. Developed with a single gesture, with no possibility of change or correction, ENSŌ is the purest creative act, a symbol of the artist’s ability to get in touch with her/himself through the movement led by the brush and the ink on paper.
On display, a production of unpublished paintings in dialogue with a selection of artworks that can be considered the fulcrum of Sisyu’s artistic practice; works on canvas that reinterpret Japanese classical and erotic art, suspended calligraphic sculptures, and the large painting “Feasting Crow, Feasted Crow“ made on Japanese folded screen and presented for the first time in Italy in 2018 on the occasion of the artist’s first Italian institutional exhibition “Satori, perception of the spirit“ at the Luciana Matalon Foundation in Milan.
BIO
Sisyu is a Japanese artist heir of SHO, calligraphy, one of the oldest traditions in Japan, which boasts a history spanning 1300 years. With her technique, Sisyu fuses Japanese calligraphy with various artistic media, such as sculpture, multimedia arts and painting; at the basis of her thought there is art as a process in continuous evolution, in which lights and shadows come together and mix.
SHODO, a Japanese calligraphic discipline, is divided into three styles: Kaisho, performed with basic characters, i.e. straight lines and traditional shapes; the Gyosho, characterized by slight abbreviations and moderately soft lines, and the Sosho, which is distinguished by greater abbreviations, many variations and mainly curved lines. The three styles were born and developed in China, where they have been used for four thousand years. In Japan, Kanji, the name of the original discipline, was introduced approximately 1500 years ago, and is still an integral part of the country’s writing today.
Sisyu makes Kanji characters her own, adapting them to contemporary language. Recognized by the Japanese Government for her profound dedication in spreading the country’s culture, Sisyu has exhibited in America, China, Taiwan, France and Italy.
Among the most significant international exhibitions and performances, the participation in the exhibition at the Carrousel Du Louvre, organized by the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris in 2014 and 2015, several stops in the United States in Washington, New York, Seattle, Los Angeles between 2013 and 2020, and the collaboration with important brands such as Adidas, Disney Pixar, Shiseido and Suzuki. Since 2013 she has been a lecturer at the Fine Arts faculty of the Osaka University of Arts.
Throughout her career, important cultural and political figures have paid tribute to Sisyu’s work, first of all the Japanese Imperial family who, in 2017, visited the artist’s exhibition at the Ehime Prefectural Museum in Matsuyama.
In Italy, she designed the installation of the entrance to the Japan Pavilion, on the occasion of EXPO 2015 in Milan; she participates in the events of Salone del Mobile in 2014 and in 2017, with a performance at Triennale Milano Museum. The following year, in 2018, she presented her first solo exhibition in Italy, at the Luciana Matalon Foundation, entitled “Satori, perception of the spirit”, which was followed by her participation to the 58th International Boat Show in Genoa in the same year, and the collective exhibition “The Red Dot” in Carrara, in 2022.
“Art encounters” is a solo exhibition by Sisyu, organized by the Luciana Matalon Foundation with the support of the Municipality of Olbia. The event is also patronized by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, by the Embassy of Japan in Italy and by the Italy Japan Foundation.
Archaeological Museum of Olbia
from 16 to 27 August 2023
from Tuesday to Sunday
8 am – 1 pm | 4 pm – 7 pm
free entrance
more information:
Fondazione Luciana Matalon
[email protected]
