The Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne dedicates a large exhibition to the work of internationally renowned and prize-winning artist Leiko Ikemura.

Leiko Ikemura was born in Japan and has lived in Europe for the past 40 years.

Through her studies in Spain as well as her work in Switzerland and Germany, Ikemura has placed her work distinctly in the context of Western art. The exhibition in Cologne now focuses for the first time on the formative and unmistakable Japanese roots of her artistic production.

Thirteen outstanding pieces of Chinese and Japanese art from the museum’s collection will be juxtaposed with around 200 works by Ikemura. They define the context

in which Ikemura’s art is shown and determine the themes that structure the exhibition

and the catalogue in a loosely structured sequence.

Mindscapes – The Cosmic Landscape

Meditation – Looking Within

Houses and Hollows – Vessels of Shadow

Transfigurations – Evolution

Black, White, Grey – Substance and Emptiness

Memento Mori – Impermanence

All About Girls – Floating, Standing, Lying

Tôkaidô— From the 53 Stations of the Eastern Sea Road

The tradition of Japanese art is a central source for Ikemura’s work. This may at first be surprising, because when “Western painting” (yôga) was established in Japan at the end of the 19th century, it was incompatible with “painting in the Japanese style” (nihonga). Since then, both styles have developed independently to one another. This show at the Museum of East Asian Art demonstrates how Leiko Ikemura transcends the barriers between Western and Japanese art in an exemplary way.

Museum für

Ostasiatische Kunst Köln

Universitätsstraße 100

50674 Köln

Kasse 0221.221-28617

mok@museenkoeln.de

Sources:

www.museum-fuer-ostasiatische-kunst.de/pages/688.aspx

www.museum-fuer-ostasiatische-kunst.de/pages/30.aspx

www.museenkoeln.de/home/pages/654.aspx

www.museenkoeln.de/home/pages/487.aspx