SHADOWS : JAPANESE WOODCUT

Online only

Margaret Cooter, Shadow Dancers — Margaret Cooter, *Shadow Dancers*

“Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadow, the light and dark which that thing provides.”

- Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

Curated by Carol Wilhide Justin, Shadows: Japanese Woodcut presents work by the Advanced Japanese Woodcut class at Morley College.

The process of making a Japanese woodcut print is not difficult to understand but the variables can take a lifetime to perfect. The process combines the nuance of watercolour with the certainties of a woodcut line. It is entirely non-toxic and after a modest outlay you can set up at home. It is an artform all about control of water, how damp the block is , how damp the paper, how wet the watercolour is, how much nori you use - even the atmospheric conditions can play a part. During the long hot summer of 2020, the sunshine cast crisp shadows everywhere.

Japanese Woodcut, in particular the ukiyo-e prints of the Edo period, played a huge role in the development of Western Modern Art. The flat colours, asymmetrical compositions, calligraphic line and importantly the subject matter of everyday Tokyo street scenes made a huge impact on the Impressionists in France. Artists such as Van Gogh copied their work and his work in turn inspired 20th Century Japanese printmakers such as Munakata.

In the shadows of the cherry blossom

Complete strangers

There are none.

- Haiku by Isa Kobayashi

GALLERY

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE MORE

Elizabeth Myers, Jug woman and flower children, 40.5 x 25.5 cm

Elizabeth Myers , Sweet pea flowers and shadow, 22 x 29.5 cm

Veronica Howard ,Long Shadow , 42 x 28.2 cm

Margaret Cooter, Waders, 8.5 x 14 cm

Margaret Cooter, Shadow Dancers, 19 x 25 cm

Margaret Cooter, The shape of the light in the night , 26 x 38cm

Val Johnson-Bell, Namibian Desert, 19.2 x 25.5 cm

Inga Eicaite, LGM-1, 28.5 x 34.5cm

Julie George, Hidden Pond, 35 x 29.5 cm

Carol Wilhide Justin, Dappled Light I, 24 x 25 cm

Carol Wilhide Justin , Dappled Light II, 24 x 25 cm

Carol Wilhide Justin, Dappled Light III, 24 x 25 cm

Carol Wilhide Justin, Dappled Light IV, 24 x 25 cm

Carol Wilhide Justin, Dappled Light V, 24 x 25 cm

Carol Wilhide Justin, Asemic Writing, 50.5 x 62 cms

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

Inspired by the exhibition, we invited the public to send in their best shadow-themed photographs. You can view the fantastic submissions here.

LOCKDOWN HAIKU COMPETITION

In response to the exhibition, we invited the Morley community to write their very own Lockdown Haiku. You can read them here.

PODCAST

To learn more about Japanese Woodcuts and the Shadows show, please listen to this episode of the Morley Gallery podcast with Carol Wilhide-Justin in conversation with Exhibitions Curator Jack Davy.

Inspired by this exhibition? Click on the images below to try one of Carol Wilhide-Justin’s courses on Japanese Woodcut.

Online exhibition designed by Melissa Baksh, Gallery Officer.