FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (1/05)
Contact: Diane Dufilho, Meadows Museum of Art, 318-869-5169, or Lynn Stewart, Centenary News Service, 318-869-5120

See also Shreveport Times article

Contemporary Japanese Crafts Exhibit Opens Jan. 16 at Centenary's Meadows Museum of Art

SHREVEPORT, LA — Contemporary Japanese Crafts, an exhibition representing six themes, will be on display Jan. 16-Feb. 20 at the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College.

In order to provide an understanding of a wide variety of carats, the exhibition identifies several characteristics of contemporary Japanese crafts and presents works that exhibit those characteristics. Shiraishi Masami, chief curator of the Crafts Gallery of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, notes that the works “are classified by material (for example, ceramics, dyed fabrics and lacquerware), by historical period, or by group of artists.”

And even though contemporary Japanese crafts may seem completely disparate, Masami says, it is possible to identify several common themes.

Art works in the exhibit are classified into one of the following six themes:
1. Ostentation – use of ostentatious colors, gold and silver
2. Quiet refinement – the natural expression of the materials
3. Crispness – strong shapes and colors
4. Fine detail – elaborate workmanship
5. Deformation – the beauty of unevenness
6. Flowers and Birds – ornamentation based on flower and bird motifs

The Meadows Museum of Art is located on the campus of Centenary College of LA at 2911 Centenary Boulevard in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Museum is open to the general public from noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday; from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Museum is closed on Monday. The Museum is free of charge to the general public. For further information or to receive a 2004-05 Exhibition and Program Guide, call the Museum Business Office at 318-869-5040.

2005 Calendar of Events for Contemporary Japanese Crafts exhibition

Saturday, Jan. 14, 2005
Members’ Exhibition Preview of Contemporary Japanese Crafts
5:30 – 7 p.m. in the museum galleries
Japanese food

Sunday, Jan. 16
Exhibition opens to the public
1-4 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17
Docent training
10 a.m. to noon

Tuesday, Jan. 18
School tours begin
9:30 a.m. to noon

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