Exhibition title: Before Flowers
Exhibition duration: April 13-Dec 13, 2018
Vernissage: April 13, 6pm
With Before Flowers, PKULTRA, as an organizing principle, presents Jeffrey Rakien Nomura, part of a groundswell of artists in the contemporary period who, having had formal training in art, eschewed the creation of objects, but remaining active in the art world as a whole. Long periods engaged in actions other than making artwork,
a number of trained artists are finding the necessity of rekindling a generative art practice. These new artists, after reaching significant recognition in the broader realm of art, are either returning to a studio environment, or in some cases, simply choosing to exhibit work previously unexhibited. In the case of Jeffrey Rakien Nomura, his formal training took place at the multiple academic institutions of East Coast Art School Consortium, and he achieved significant international recognition as a curator and educator, while diminishing his generative output of artwork. This is not to say Nomura suspended his output, in fact, he created and sold precious "babies", a select number of artworks to the private collections of close friends.
a number of trained artists are finding the necessity of rekindling a generative art practice. These new artists, after reaching significant recognition in the broader realm of art, are either returning to a studio environment, or in some cases, simply choosing to exhibit work previously unexhibited. In the case of Jeffrey Rakien Nomura, his formal training took place at the multiple academic institutions of East Coast Art School Consortium, and he achieved significant international recognition as a curator and educator, while diminishing his generative output of artwork. This is not to say Nomura suspended his output, in fact, he created and sold precious "babies", a select number of artworks to the private collections of close friends.
The current groundswell which Nomura is included, the exhibition PKULTRA presents now, has more than passing resemblance to a 2012 Robert Storr breakout exhibition at Francine Seder’s Gallery in Seattle. Similarly organized was Storr’s reputation as a curator and writer concealing a generative art practice instilled in his attainment of an M.F.A. in Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Storr stated at the time: “I certainly know how difficult it is to make art. I started out as a painter more than 35 years ago,” he explained, “and I’ve never stopped; I’ve never become an ex-painter. Making art has made me a better curator. Whether or not being a curator has made me a better artist remains to be seen.” In this way, parallels between Storr and Nomura emerge in the organizing principles of Form/Space Atelier’s 2018 exhibition.
What is different between the two artist’s retooling is materiality. Storr, trained at SAIC as a painter, continues to work in two dimensions, where Nomura, trained as a painter at RISD, et al, has chosen instead ceramics, and clay inspired by his cultural heritages.
Nomura’s current emphasis on a generative practice blossoms in soil that is both ancient and modern; Nomura’s grandmother was a longtime creator of ceramic art and Ikebana master. Nomura has adopted the venue of the clay studio his grandmother was a community member of, for many years here locally.
Active in the art world in New York, and still engaged as an art advisor( http://www.nomurafineart.com ), Nomura has chosen to return to a studio practice in Seattle.
The exhibition will evolve over the course of its duration. Nomura will add a new body of work every three months.
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