"Ward Yoshimoto: It’s Personal"
2005-03-24 until 2005-04-23
Xanadu
New York, NY, USA United States of America

Xanadu* is delighted to present Ward Yoshimoto’s It’s Personal, a solo exhibition featuring new works incorporating box constructions and assemblages of industrial materials and mass produced products. His work, reminiscent of those of Joseph Cornell, blends the duality of social concerns and fragments of his personal history. Paying special to the object the artist is able to create a contextual visual metaphors between his formal concerns of the traditional arts and explore the creative act of selection.

During his residence at The MacDowell Colony in 2004 the artist attempted to remove the preciousness of the used object and the obvious personal connection to them out of his work. What he discovered is that because of the process and choice of materials, the work will always have his personal history and visual style underlying in its structure.

The use of crushed beer cans in It’s Personal speaks of time and process; saved over years they represent a timeline. As in the piece “Crushed “ the sky and ground become abstract metaphors for imagined space, a post apocalyptic view, an abstract representation of the devastation left by the use of nuclear weapons. Photography from the devastation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki informed much of what is underlying in this piece. Some of this work was inspired by Yoshimoto’s early forays in painting, reinvestigating the suburban landscape. While still referencing his interest in the Japanese screen and its relationship to landscape painting he has tried to create a visual style that transcends my heritage and as a American visual artist. Part of this new work deals with Yoshimoto’s concerns with the nuclear proliferation in the world today. And, as an American with Japanese decent he has found “that” as a solution is unacceptable.

The artist would like to thank The MacDowell Colony for inspiration and the seeds for this show.

Ward Yoshimoto has lived and worked in New York for over twenty years as a commercial photographer and fine artist. Born and raised in Los Angeles he attended CSU Dominguez Hills as a design and studio major, and then in 1985 received his BFA in photography from The Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California. In 1999 he received his MFA in sculpture from Brooklyn College. He has continued to explore issues about art, photography, sculpture, the digital world, the human condition; these among others are some of his concerns. He has shown both nationally and internationally and is currently preparing for his exhibition at Xanadu Gallery this spring in NYC. He has attended several retreats including a residency at The MacDowell Colony in 2004 and began a teaching position at the Delaware College of Art & Design (DCAD).

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of New York

Other Important Exhibitions in New York