Casey Kaplan is pleased to present for the first time in New York, a solo exhibition of Japanese
painter, Yuko Murata. Combining Eastern and Western artistic practices, Murata sources her
traditional Japanese subject matters in contemporary media such as post cards, tourist brochures,
encyclopedias, and magazines. In Gallery II, she will present small, intimate landscapes and
depictions of animals in oil on canvas and board.
 
There is a distance between the world Murata experiences living and working in Tokyo and the
imagery that she chooses to consistently render in her work. The simple compositions of her fields
are influenced by 18th Century Japanese paintings, when artists were challenged to create an
artwork with minimum colors and objects. Iconic Japanese references, such as the karesansui (dry
landscape) rock garden, the most famous in the Ryōan-ji Zen temple in Kyoto, Japan; the crane, a
symbol of good fortune, peace and longevity; and subtle seasonal references, like barren trees, are
repeated themes. When single subjects such as a bird, rock or flower were in the past decorative,
narrative, and rooted in Shinto and Buddhist lore, they are now modernly sourced by Murata,
serving as her meditations on a lost experience of the world.
 
Following the traditional style of “yamato-e” meaning simply “Japanese pictures”, Murata’s works
are characterized by natural subject matters and frequent use of flat planes of color with very few
mid-tones. However, her application of paint is Western in technique. Although very small, Murata’s
canvases are rich and they shine behind layers of varnish. Her basic but sophisticated palette varies
between works, actively corresponding to the individual subject matters. While each picture
maintains beauty and balance, there is a palpable and strange melancholic air that pervades. 
 
Seasonal flowers and plants became the sole focus of compositions during the Momoyama and Edo
Periods. Currently, Murata is working on 100 paintings of flowers in homage to Jakuchu Ito (1716-
1800), who produced a painting of a hundred flowers at the Kotohira-gu shrine in Shikoku, Japan in
1764. An ancient Japanese tradition grants a wish to the person who folds 1000 origami cranes. In a
similar act, Murata paints, working through her subjects.