Japanese American Cultural & Community Center Closes 'Winter Garden' Exhibit, 7/18

The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center 244 South San Pedro Street (between 2nd and 3rd Streets) closes its "Winter Garden" exhibition on July 18th. The exhibition first opened on June 12th. The gallery is opened Tuesday through Friday from noon to 5 PM and during the weekends from 11 AM to 4 PM. Admission is free.

This is U.S. premier of "Winter Garden," a traveling worldwide exhibit organized by the Japan Foundation. The show features a variety of pop and contemporary Japanese artists, which include Ryoko Aoki, Tam Ochiai, Lyota Yagi, Koki Tanaka, Hiroshi Sugito, Taro Izumi, Mahomi Kunikata, Aya Takano, Makiko Kudo, Chim Pom, Masanori Handa, Hiroe Saeki, Masaya Chiba and Keisuke Yamamoto.

Renowned art critic Midori Matsui is the curator for this exhibit that boasts a wide spectrum of work, including drawings, paintings, and video of 14 young Japanese artists active from the later half of the 1990s throughout the first decade of the 21st Century. The work ranges from mixed media to painting with the only limit being the artist's imagination. They includes vibrant pop colors, with abstracted, animalistic undertones, and adolescent characteristics filled with youth like qualities.

Matsui explains the name, "Winter Garden," was given to this exhibit with two contradicting themes. The first theme is "desolate garden" where the environment and the difficulties in contemporary life are represented. Whereas another meaning is meant to symbolize a hothouse where the various organisms and the immense space of the outside world are indicated. The artworks in the Winter Garden exhibit represent fluidity and change.

Some upcoming events include a workshop on the furoshiki on July 8th at 7 PM, a movie screening of "TIMELESS" in the plaza on July 23rd at 7 PM, a ticketed screening of "442-Live with Honor, Die with Dignity" throughout the day on July 25th, and a benefit hosted by Tuesday Night Project (www.tuesdaynightproject.org) on July 31st. More information can be found at the website at http://www.jaccc.org.