Galerie Dutko, Paris presents “France /Japan,” highlighting the works of contemporary Japanese artists including Shoko Koike, Setsuko Nagasawa, Chieko Katsumata, Hitomi Uchikura, and Kaneko Haruhiko. Also presented alongside are works of certain French artists, who were deeply influenced by the poetry and ancient traditions of Japan.“From the Edo and Meiji dynasties to today’s Showa dynasty, Japanese culture has always influenced the West, rapidly building a cultural bridge between East and West,” writes Dutko. A number of artists from Japan emigrated to Europe during the 1930s, bringing along their rich cultural history which greatly influenced French painters and sculptors.  “France /Japan” features works of contemporary Japanese artists. Ceramist Shoko Koike immortalizes flowers in pure white stoneware with an opalescent heart. Another ceramist Setsuko Nagasawa shows influences of American artists in her work which led to her use of a freer technique. Chieko Katsumata is a specialist in Chinese beef blood cutlery. She combines a technique of colored engobes to produce a particular texture. Hitomi Uchikura presents her subtle works of paper, glass, and leather. Kaneko Haruhiko is one of the members of the pottery studio of master ceramist Ishigaki-Yaki, whose work uses the ancestral “drop of oil” technique to make bowls used in the 16th century by the shoguns, as described by the gallery.“In this digitalized, accelerated, sometimes dehumanised century, these Japanese artists have lost nothing of their poetic philosophy, happily combining the beautiful with the useful, and sometimes even the useless – undoubtedly the greatest luxury of all. Their work offers us an insight into another world, another reality, one that can transport us to a vaster universe. Through their vision of art, these Japanese artists invite us to decipher this other purified and spiritualised world,” adds Dutko.The exhibition is on view through October 13, 2018 at Galerie Dutko, 11, Rue Bonaparte, ParisFor more information, visit: https://www.dutko.com/Click on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition.http://www.blouinartinfo.com/                                         Founder: Louise Blouin  Read more