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Fit to print

Keji Shinohara demonstrates master Japanese printing

by Leon Nigrosh

KEIJI SHINOHARA: INTERPRETATIONS IN WOODCUT at the Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, through August 17.

Japanese woodblock-printing techniques have been practiced for more than 1200 years since they were introduced by the Chinese in the 7th century. Best-known to the Western world as ukiyo-e or "pictures of the floating world," this art form flourished in Japan during the 17th century when practitioners like Hokusai and Hiroshige reached their pinnacle of performance and productivity.

Typically the work is produced through a division of labor. A Japanese publisher contracts with a designer to develop a drawing or series of drawings that will eventually become part of a folio. The approved pictures are then sent to a carver who incises the images in reverse into blocks of carefully planed hardwood. The completed blocks are delivered to a printer who then colors and transfers the printed impression onto paper. The finished work is returned to the publisher and then offered for sale.

Keiji Shinohara, whose prints are on display at WAM through mid-August, was schooled in this style of printing through a 10-year apprenticeship wherein he first learned print production and later studied carving techniques. Realizing the shortcomings of Japan's rigid printmaking traditions, he came to Boston in 1985 to expand his opportunities both as a master printer and as a creative printmaker.

He met a number of American artists and soon began to collaborate with several of them on various printmaking projects. During this time, he continued to experiment with carving, inking, and printing techniques with his own personal work.

For purposes of comparison, the WAM exhibition has been divided in two, with examples of Shinohara's collaborative works with 10 different artists shown on the perimeter walls and his different personal work displayed on the center panels.

A random selection of proofs from painter Chuck Close's Alex series shows just how adept Shinohara is at translating an exceedingly complex and exacting design. We can see how he has developed Close's full-face image of his mentor, Alex Katz, by building up small squares of color until these marks come together to form a textural portrait very similar to Close's large grid-like paintings. In order to produce the finished image, Shinohara had to hand color and hand print 100 separate blocks some 200 times!

While Close's images rely on distinctly separate colors that come together to complete a statement, the prints Shinohara produced with sculptor John Newman are completely different. In these sensuous, abstract drawings, akin to Newman's globoid sculptures, the colors blend seamlessly; the finished works appear to be made up of airbrushed transparent watercolor overlays. But each color is still laid onto individually carved blocks and burnished into the paper by hand.

Even more startling are Shinohara's prints made from paintings by Robert Cottingham. At first glance, one could rightly assume that both Rolling Stock #13 and Rolling Stock #27 are actually photographs. The precise image registration Shinohara employed to make 50 printings with 65 individual woodblocks boldly emphasizes the dramatic shadows and patinaed surfaces within these railroad train details.

Shinohara has the amazing ability to remove his own personality from the prints he produces for other artists. This is particularly notable in the images he had completed for the painter Balthus (Bathasar Klossowski) and photographer/painter Henri Cartier-Bresson. In each case, Shinohara produced a soft, watery, pastel effect in their landscapes and still-lifes that echoes their well-known turn-of-the-century styles. It is easy to forget that these images are not paintings but are masterfully orchestrated woodcuts.

As adroit as Shinohara is in producing works that reflect the desires and aesthetics of other artists, his own work reveals a deep interest in sosaku-hanga.

Two large vertical prints produced three years apart are excellent examples of how he can channel his versatility into creating different perceptual moods. Taichi's Garden I employs splash and spatter effects to create graceful apparitions of insects and flowers which float in a pale, textured background. In Taichi's Garden III, Shinohara has pared any extraneous elements, leaving only crisp lines and bright colors.

The Taichi series, produced in 1987, consists of simple ovoid forms floating in color fields. Bright, tactile and vigorous, each abstract print has the ability to engage with its compositional merits alone. When it is discovered that the series was produced to honor the birth of Shinohara's son, the objects suddenly take on a new meaning. The ovoids become eggs, the jagged lines become ultrasound readings and so on.

WAM hours are Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 799-4406.