Curator Essay

                 The Simplicity of Japanese Art

                                                 

I chose to put three Zen pieces in my exhibit: The Rock Garden in Ryoanji, Kyoto, The Bunsei Landscape, and the Sesshu Winter Landscape.   All three of these forms of art are beautiful yet simple. Zen is an overwhelming trait in these pieces, as they were made by Buddhist monks, who lived simply.  The first part of my exhibit is the Rock Garden, also known as a "Zen Dry Garden". This garden has a dry landscape that consists of a flat rectangle of perfectly raked gravel. The garden itself is approximately 29 by 70 ft. Fifteen stones of multiple sizes are carefully placed in clusters of two, three, and five. Each cluster is surrounded by moss. The low walls of the garden represent the boundary. Beyond the garden the scenery consists of maple, pine, and cherry trees. The trees are known as "borrowed scenery", which adds to the gardens appearance, even though they are not actually part of the garden.  Stone and gravel gardens are known to be abstract reflections of nature. The garden may represent islands in the sea, or mountain peaks rising above the clouds. However you view this rock garden, it is important to take notice the minimalist simplicity of the artwork. Very little color and objects are used to create this Zen garden.

The second piece in my exhibit is the Bunsei Landscape. This ink painting was done in black ink and diluted grays. There is no color other than black, gray, and the color of the blank canvas. Muromachi ink painting was heavily influenced by Zen. Muromachi paintings closely model Korean ink landscapes, which the Koreans actually copied from the Chinese Ming Period. Rocky land is fading off in the distance in this piece. The darker ink is used at the bottom of the canvas to show that the tree and house are closer to the viewer. Lots of empty space is left on this simple scroll, right in the middle of the artwork. This empty space is supposed to represent water.

The last simplistic piece in the exhibit is Sesshu Winter Landscape. This piece is bold yet simple, without using any color. The scroll uses just black and shades of grey. Many jagged lines are used to create space and texture. There is a lot of white left over on the scroll, which is meant to indicate snowy scenery. Many viewers would not gather that the empty space would mean such a thing as snow. Although the piece is simple, using only ink and paper without color, there is still meaning hidden throughout the piece.

These three pieces are all a part of the simplicity of Zen. All of the pieces were created by monks, who live their lives surrounded by minimal material possessions, and value nature. All three of these pieces of art play a vital role in this exhibit.

Curated by Caroline McManus