Exhibition

"Mic Check"
Exhibition: Robert Gerhardt

February 8- March 6, 2020

Feb. 10 (Mon.) opening reception
19:00 - 21:00 VIP Room

I began making the photographs in this series in November of 2014 when a Grand Jury absolved a white police officer in the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Two weeks later, a second Grand Jury on Staten Island cleared white police officers in the killing of Eric Garner. The local protests that erupted in response to these decisions in Ferguson and on Staten Island spread to cities and towns across the country. People took to the streets to protest against both Grand Jury decisions, along with overreach, brutality and racism among police forces in general. And as more incidents occurred throughout the country, more protests happened, and people over and over again took to the streets.

"Mount Fuji Through the Seasons"
Exhibition: Katsura Endō (JP/ ENG event poster link)
January 11- February 7, 2020

I first remember becoming aware of Mt. Fuji during the summer festival when I was three years old and my family had gone out in a pleasure boat. I still have a vague memory of a firework display and a spectacular Mt. Fuji floating in the night sky. Every morning Mt. Fuji calls out to me, I awake, then go to see it.
I hope you will enjoy these images of a 'tranquil Fuji' under the sun of first year of Reiwa.

December Exhibition: CHARLIE COLE, "TANK MAN"

CHARLIE COLE Memorial Photo Exhibition: "TANK MAN"

Exhibition Dec. 7, 2019- Jan. 10, 2020

American photographer Charlie Cole won the World Press Photo of the Year in 1989 for his instantly recognizable "Tank Man" photo that depicted a lone protester staring down four tanks in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. He passed away at his home in Bali in early September after apparently suffering complications from a motorcycle injury he sustained in Japan in the late 1990s. The Texas native was 64 and is survived by his wife Rosa.

Kengo Kuma

Nov. 2 - Dec. 6, 2019

FCCJ is hosting an exhibition of my work that will be something of a departure from normal. My architecture is described as "world architecture," and I think this term is very appropriate. The early 20th century saw the emergence of what was called "international architecture," and in the 1980s we started to hear the term "global architecture." But I prefer the term "world architecture," with its connotations of world music. There are current projects involving more than 20 countries that really give me a feeling of being part of a world movement. And this is the spirit that I have tried to convey in my exhibition.

THE PAPER for Art and Life
Artwork by Hiroshi Sunto

Oct. 5 - Nov. 1, 2019

Oct. 10 (Thur.) opening reception 19:00 -21:00 VIP Room.

I studied nihonga-style painting since I was young and a few years ago began experimenting with stiff oil painting brushes to make thick line portraits. With a background in designing magazines and record jacket covers, I enjoy creating images that are bold and graphic. I didn't have any particular plans for showcasing these paintings until a friend suggested making a large tabloid size free-paper and putting my artworks on the cover. I though it was fun idea to do something in printed media as so much of the work nowadays is shown digitally over the internet. The artwork in this exhibition is the process that led to the creation of the 'THE PAPER'

Hiroshi Sunto bio

SAMURAI SPIRIT - The Aesthetic of Bushidoh
Painting exhibition by Atsuki Settangeli
Sept. 7 - Oct. 4, 2019

"Pride weighs heavier than life itself" - As something we modern people have forgot, these words sound an echo in our hearts. Here is the way of life seeking true value in modern society dominated by capitalism. This is the reason why I paint the series SAMURAI SPIRIT. A pride that refers to a way of living and discovering a life in a sense of aesthetics. As a modern expressionist, I would like to live up to this aesthetics of myself.

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Asuki Settangeli Profile

NEOISM - A proprietary way to express past artistic works and combined with modern sense.

Focusing on the Italian Renaissance culture, which had an impact on art, philosophy and religion, particularly Leonardo da Vinci, whom I feel is greatest example on which to aim. Additional influences are Japanese "Bushido" and "Dandyism" as a basis for life perspectives along with 1970s culture, especially record album covers and movie posters.

Atsuki Settangeli official site -DRAGON RISING-
https://www.facebook.com/Settangeli/

August Exhibition: "Lafcadio Hearn vs. Mokujiki Shonin" Kamikiri (paper cutting artwork) by Katsuyuki Yagi

Lafcadio Hearn vs. Mokujiki Shonin: The stories of two nomads
Kamikiri (paper cutting artwork) by Katsuyuki Yagi

Exhibition Aug. 3 - Sept. 6, 2019

Aug. 5 (Mon.) opening reception 19:00 - 21:00 VIP Room

Lafcadio Hearn, also known by his Japanese name Yakumo Koizumi, was a writer known for his books about Japan, particularly Yokai stories of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. Originally born in Greece, he was raised in Dublin, educated in England and France, and worked in United State before moving to Japan in 1890. In addition to Hearn's writings, he taught literature at Tokyo and Wasuda universities, influencing many well-known Japanese writers at that time.

OYAKO (Parents and Children) Group Photography Exhibition

OYAKO (Parents and Children)
Group Photography Exhibition
July 8- August 9, 2019

photo by Eiichiro Sakata

Oyako Day is on the 4th Sunday of July and in celebration of that special bond, this month's exhibition is a group show featuring images of parents and children in Japan and overseas. Photographs from China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Mongolia, to Syria, Palestine, Ethiopia, Uruguay, United States, and under the sea are included in this show. The pictures were selected from a mix of 25 well-known and up-and-coming photographers who have focused their cameras on parents and children.

Class Rooms

KnK Exhibition: photos by Kyo Shimizu

June 8 - July 5, 2019

Opening reception: June 10

Improving the lives of children in the world.

What is necessary to study? Is it stationary? Is it a classroom? It is so hard for working children to go to school. If they could spare just a little time for studying, even it wasn't at a school, it would be their "Class Room". The learning is not limited to academics. Other activities including music, sports, art, and even just having fun are important. If more children in the world could spend time in a learning environment, it will help them to prepare for the future. In the nearly 20 years that I have been involved with the NGO, KnK Japan, I have visited several overseas sites and met numerous children. Sometimes it's depressing to see children in the difficult situations, but it can also be moving seeing them trying their best with clear eyes. I wish to share what's happening, which is why I took up photography. I will not say that I have changed the children's world through my photos, but I hope to make their lives better as a humanitarian photographer.

Kyo Shimizu

Portraits of African Musicians 2019

photo exhibition by Tsunehiro Takakuwa
May 7 - June 7, 2019

It has been more than a quarter century since I first set foot on the good earth of Africa in 1991.

Since then, as if possessed, I have traveled incessantly to Africa, encountered tremendous African musicians and taken numerous portraits of them with a large 4x5-inch format camera. It is my belief that a portrait taken using a large format camera can capture the whole of its subject's life and strongly express it including his/her soul.

For people in Africa, song, dance and rhythm are an indispensable part of their daily lives. In one sense, these photos are unsolicited love letters from me to them.
As I encountered the lively, engaging faces and figures of these people, which seemed to be prototypically human and represent something that the Japanese were losing, I was smitten with Africa. Smitten, indeed.