Lanning Gallery to feature Homare Ikeda Exhibition

Written by Liz BoyKin Tuesday, 22 September 2009 21:05

SEDONA, AZ:  For its “1^st Friday Gallery Tour” reception on October 2^nd, from 5-8 pm, Lanning Gallery welcomes abstract artist Homare Ikeda.  In paintings that have been called Expressionistic and Neo-Expressionistic - and which Homare simply calls primitive and organic - evidence is undeniable of the artist’s roots on the tiny subtropical island of Yoron, off the coast of Japan. 

Now with an international reputation after earning a BFA and MFA from the University of Colorado and with sixteen years spent as a professor of art in the U.S., work he continues to this day, Homare’s fine art continues to tell what he sees as the story of creation, with the delicate lines and seed-like forms that define his paintings, whether oil and wax, acrylic, watercolor or monotype.  It is a creation story borne of the sea as only an island-dweller with that intimate relationship could explore.

“Creation begins from the sea then moved to land and then to sky,” Homare reflects, as he describes his painting process.  “So, in the beginning, liquid is a very spontaneous mover; then forms and shapes – and my ideas – become more solid; and then the sky is air you cannot see – it is spatial but you have spirit.”  It is not uncommon for Homare to spend years on a painting.  His practice is to have many sitting out in progress as he spends time looking at them, not contemplating per se, just looking and allowing what will come to come. 

And there is always a period of several months after the last brushstroke when he lives with each piece before deciding it is time to release it as complete.  “I feel that is the responsibility of an artist,” he says.  A piece must reach a place of balance to him; it is a balance that he feels defines his work.

Homare’s paintings are playful yet elegant, at once naïve, lyrical and sophisticated.  The artist will give several talks during this opening reception.  An SGA “1^st Friday Gallery Tour” event.  For further information contact:  Lanning Gallery, Hozho Center, 431 State Route 179, Sedona, AZ.  928-282-6865 or www.lanninggallery.com .  Open daily: 10-6:00 Mon-Sat, 11-5 Sun.