December 17, 2011-January 28, 201245188 Portola Avenue, Palm Desert, CA

presents paper sculptures and wall pieces as remarkable examples of papermaking, integrating scale, material, and content. Kyoko Ibe’s art making process is one of reflection and meditation in an effort to slow and transcend time. Her art communicates an inherent tranquility which slowly reveals itself through patient observation.

Ibe’s art transforms an environment into a sanctuary against the world outside and acts as an antidote to the fast-paced consumption of

imagery and life.

Washi Tales: Works by Kyoko Ibe

imagery and life.

One of the first artists to begin incorporating traditional Japanese paper in the 1960s, Kyoko Ibe’s work began to garner acclaim in the 1970s and today her paper-installations reach monumental scales. While her paper-based works have been extensively exhibited across the world, Ibe is also renowned for her stage, costume and lighting designs. Ibe has earned a reputation as one of Japan’s leading artists with her large-scale installations of washi, or traditional Japanese paper. Combining conventional materials with modern techniques, Ibe’s work has brought washi from the sphere of arts and crafts to that of contemporary art. Though in keeping with Japanese custom, the sanctity of the paper itself is fundamental to her work. The ancient Japanese believed divine spirits resided in the paper and Ibe maintains such veneration, stating that while the functional role of paper has diminished, the aesthetic role of paper as a spiritual medium is more apparent and has succeeded today in reemerging as an art media. Appropriating old handmade paper and handwritten documents, Ibe recycles them into new forms of washi. The ink of the original sources remains embedded in the fibers of the paper, such that the new paper is uniquely variegated with shades of gray and intrinsically connected to the past. Ibe states, “I attempt to evoke the feeling of [washi] through my own techniques, while at the same time visualizing the rebirth of a past era. In this way, old paper and documents, asleep for years; secure a place along the axis of time for perpetual life of art.”

Untitled, from the series Rikyu2011Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi44 x 111 1/2 in.

Untitled, from the series Hogosho2008Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi57 3/4 x 116 1/4 in.

Untitled, from the series Once Upon a Time2011Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi23 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. each

Sedona with Triangles1999Hogosho, pre-industrial time old paper, sumi ink for calligraphy,mica, natural indigo dye17 3/4 x 35 1/2 in. each

Untitled2011Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi23 3/4 x 46 1/2 in.

Untitled, from the series Rikyu2009Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi48 x 15 5/8 in. each

Untitled, from the series Once Upon a Time2011Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi41 3/4 x 18 x 13 1/2 in. each

Curved Horizon Hogosho with Blue and Gold2009Recycled ganpi paper fiber, old documents, mica and sumi24 x 55 in.

Hogosho with White, Black and Grey1993Hogosho, pre-industrial time old paper, sumi ink, mica, natural indigo dye60 x 24 in. each panel

Byobu2006

Hogosho, pre-industrial time old paper, sumi ink, mica, natural indigo dye

60 x 24 in. each panel

Kyoko Ibe Born1941 Nagoya, Japan

Education1963 Kyoto Institute of Technology, Design Theory and Industrial Design1967 Kyoto Institute of Technology, Master of Technology

Solo Exhibitions2011 Washi Tales: Works by Kyoko Ibe, Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA Washi Tales: The Paper Art of Kyoko Ibe, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

2008 World of Yugen, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2007 Indigenous Paper, an exhibition with Mark Lander, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC

2005 Mino Paper Museum, Mino, Japan

2003 Inocho Paper Museum, Inocho, Kochi, Japan

2002 Territories Partarges, an exhibition with George Rousse, Rur Arts Contemporain, France Gallery L’Asiatique, Scottsdale, Arizona, AZ

2001 Gallery Goraku, Tokyo, Japan

2000 Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ Gallery L’Asiatique, Scottsdale, AZ Exhibition with Yuh Yoshinaga, Gallery 1, Tokyo, Japan Fuji City Art Hall, Shizuoka, Japan

1998 I Space, University of Illinois Gallery, Chicago, IL Mino Paper Museum, Gifu, Japan

1995 Gallery Vromans, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1994 Librije Hedendaagse Kunst Zwolle, The Netherlands

1993 Misawa Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan ltami Craft Center, Itami, Japan

1992 Washi Works, Amuse, Tokyo, Japan

1991 Washi Works, an exhibition with Sachio Fujisaki, Atelierhaus Arlesheim, Switzerland

1990 Washi Works, an exhibition with Andreas von Weizacker, The Japan Cultural Institute, Koln, Germany

1989 Washi Works, Goethe Institute, Kyoto, Japan

1987 Nordjyland Kunstmuseum, Denmark Academy of Dramatic Art, The Netherlands

1986 Kyoko Ibe Exhibition, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Craft Industry, Kyoto, Japan The Lighting and partitions, Gallery Aleph, Kyoto, Japan Washi Works ‘86, Gallery Space 21, Tokyo, Japan

1984 Daimaru Department Store Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan Misawa Interior Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

1980 Odakyu Hale Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Gallery Maronie, Kyoto, Japan

1979 Gallery Beni, Kyoto, Japan

1978 Gallery Beni, Kyoto, Japan

1975 Kintetsu Department Store Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan Modern Craft Gallery, Osaka, Japan

1974 Gallery lteza, Kyoto, Japan Gallery Shisendo, Kyoto, Japan Modern Craft Gallery, Osaka, Japan

Select Group Exhibitions2011 Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers, Japan Society, New York, NY

2007 Art Forum JARFO, Kyoto, Japan Paperarti, Vancouver Arts Center, Albany, West Australia

2006 The 5th International Textile Biennale, Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2005 Paper Now -2005, Museum in Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan Blue Heron Gallery, Deer Isle, ME Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME American Museum of Papermaking, Atlanta, GA The 2nd Exhibition American and Japanese Artists, Art Forum AFRO, Kyoto, Japan

2004 Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Art Space Kitakazan, Kyoto, Japan

2003 Global Art and History of Papermaking, National Fine Art Museum, Santiago, Chile

2001 On Paper, Craft Council, London, UK Made in Japan, Bristol Museum, Bristol, UK

1999 Forum of Washi, Nerima Museum, Tokyo, Japan

1997 Water, Ink, Paper, Sheenan Gallery, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA

1996 Paper Biennale, Ryswijk Museum, The Netherlands Fiber as Art Part 5, Osaka University Gallery, Osaka, Japan Gallery 21, Tokyo, Japan

1995 Fiber as Art Part 4, Osaka University Gallery, Osaka, Japan

1994 Japan Korea Art and Craft Exhibition, Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan

1993 Japan Canada Contemporary Paper Works Exhibition, Montreal City Gallery, Montreal, Canada

1992 New Art and Craft Exhibition, Osaka City Museum, Osaka, Japan Asahi Craft Exhibition Hankyu Department Store Gallery, Osaka, Japan Paper Media, Fine Art Museum, Budapest, Hungary

1991 Graf and Scheible Gallery, Basel, Switzerland Nutita Kunst pa Papper av Papper, Kulturcentrum, Ronneby, Sweden Paper has Possibility, Kuopio Museum, Savolina Museum, Rovaniemi Museum, Finland

1990 Paper as Nature, Tempelhof von Berlin, Germany Paper as Language, Ino Paper Museum, Kochi, Japan The 3rd International Paper Art Biennale, Leopold Hoesch Museum, Germany

1989 International Paper Art Exhibition ‘89, Japan, Kyoto Museum, Tokushima, Tokyo, Japan Modern Art Museum, Sao Paulo, Brazil

1988 Fiber as Art Part 3, Gallery Space 21, Tokyo, Japan The International Paper Art Biennale, Leopold Hoesch Museum, Germany Nordjylands Kunstmuseum, Denmark Paper Forms, New Jersey Art Center, Summit, NJ Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA

1987 Asahi Craft Exhibition, Hankyu Department Store Gallery, Osaka, Japan Fiber as Art Part 2, Gallery Space 21, Tokyo, Japan Lighting Graffiti ‘87, Daimaru Art Museum, Osaka, Japan

1983 Paper Now in Japan, Axis Hall, Tokyo, Craft Center Hall, Kyoto, Syuhkohsya Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan

Works Related to Theater2011 Stage installation for Recycling: Washi Tales performance, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA2008 Stage for Noh performance, Krannert Center for Performing Arts, Champaign, IL2000 Utah Dance Company, Marriott Theater, Salt Lake, UT Sakura Gensoh, Rirriku Hall, Nagaoka, Japan1999 Festival New Art New World Skylight Stage, Chicago, IL1998 Festival 98, Illinois Dance Company, Krannert Center for Performing Arts, Champaign IL1994 Sonezaki Sinjyu, Tikamatu Experimental Theater, Amagasaki, Japan1992 Production and Stage Art for the performance Sogne Kyoto Prefecture Theater, Alti, Japan1990 Production and Stage Art for the modern Noh Performance, Dojoji-A Forbidden Journey1988 Cosmo, Joint Performance with Junko Arase, Sendai City Hall, Japan1986 The time falling bodies take to light, Palace of Fine Art, San Francisco, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, Toga studio, Kyoto, Tokushima and Sendai, Japan Paper and Dancing, Joint performance with Tandy Beal, Kyoto American Center, Tokyo Seed Hall, Tokyo, Japan1982 Stage Art for Drama, Izumo no Okuni, Kyoto Prefecture Theater, Kyoto, Japan

Publications2006 Co-author and editor Encyclopedia Paper Culture and Science, Asakurasyoten2000 Author and editor Introduction for Contemporary Paper Works, Shibunndo1998 Co-author Modern Literature Textbook for Highschool, Taisyukann Shot en1997 Co-author A Complete Work of Japanese Culture vol. 5, Iwanami Shoten Maria Syobou, On the Washi Works of Kyoko Ibe1990-96 Co-author Washi Guidebook 1, 2, All Japan Washi Association

Public CollectionsKyoto Prefecture Museum, Kyoto, JapanMino Paper Museum, Gifu, JapanAmerican Museum of Papermaking, Atlanta, GANordjyland Kunstmuseum, DenmarkQuebec University, CanadaUtah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UTScottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZKrannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL

Public Art and Commissions2008 Entrance Hall of Washi Information Center Rakushikan, Kyoko, Japan2005 Installation in Entrance lobby of Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Atlanta, GA2004 Cosmo, Entrance Atrium Wisconsin Heart Hospital, Milwaukee, WI2003 Habataku, 50th Anniversary of the opening of Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan2002 Yuki, Sapporo International Convention Center, Sapporo, Japan2001 San San, Acta Nishinomiya, Kobe, Japan2000 Asuka, Ikiiki plaza, Tiba, Japan1998 Finalist for Midway Airport Art Project, Chicago, IL1995 Cosmo, 95 Kyoto Prefecture Fukushi Kaikan, Kyoto, Japan Kyoto Exhibition City Hall, Kyoto, Japan1994 Mukoh City Fukushi Kaikan, Mukoh-shi, Kyoto, Japan Mukoh City Pool, Mukoh-shi, Kyoto, Japan1993 Industrial Bank of Japan, Tokyo, Japan1992 Amulax TOYOTA, Tokyo, Japan1990 Installation in”Sakuya Konohanakann” The host pavilion of the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Exhibition, Osaka, Japan Fuji Grand, Matsuyama, Japan1987-94 Tanabata Festa, 141 bld. Sendai, Japan1985 Gavoner’s Guest Room in Tokushima Prefecture Office, Tokushima, Japan Tukuba Expo 85, Wall decoration for the Royal Guest House

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