Exhibition : Ohgetsu Fujita presents… Emoji & Jazz on 27th, 28th & 29th July 2018

Up-and-coming Japanese artist Ohgetsu Fujita visits the UK especially to present her unique take on the art of calligraphy. The result is an evolution of tradition which focuses on spatial beauty. Hundred Years Gallery is proud to showcase her collection of Emoji-inspired artwork, fusing both traditional calligraphy (*1), Zenei-Shodou (*2) and her own creative techniques, which Fujita-san has mastered over the course of her career.

In addition to the free daytime exhibition, Fujita-san will be creating live artwork in tandem with omnipresent British jazz artists Séb Pipe (alto saxophone), Kevin Glasgow (electric bass) and Will Butterworth (keyboards). Live jazz performances will be presented in the form of two duos: the Pipe/Glasgow duo (Saturday 28th July / 8pm / £5) showcasing original melodic concepts, interspaced with chordal bass playing and unorthodox approaches, whilst the Pipe/Butterworth duo (Sunday 28th July / 5pm / £5) creates wondrous harmonic landscapes, singing melodies and dynamic subtlety.

(*1) It is a lesser-known fact that Chinese or Japanese calligraphy has nothing to do with writing pretty characters, but instead it is all about expressing oneself through art. Traditional calligraphy uses Kanji characters (漢字) which are adopted logographic Chinese characters used in the Japanese writing system. They convey a meaning and at their origin are derived from pictures created thousands of years ago.

(*2) Zenei-Shodou seeks to deviate from traditional calligraphy boundaries and create new aesthetics based on the appreciation of the beauty of Chinese characters by excluding the idea of characters and focusing on the art of space (or “the void” (空, kuu) from the Japanese philosophy of five elements).

For more information, see the Hundred Gallery website below:

Hundred Years Gallery