CJS Noon Lecture Series: Phantom Prospects: Exchanging Visions of Contemporary Landscape Representation in Japan and the West

Robert Platt, born London, UK, has an MA in Painting from The Royal College of Art and a PhD from Kyoto City University of Arts, Japan. Platt has exhibited internationally and his work has been reviewed in numerous publications. Platt is Assistant Professor at The Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design, University of Michigan where he mainly teaches painting and maintains an active creative practice.

Kae Masuda, born in Kyoto, Japan, is a current Visiting Scholar hosted by CJS Member Robert Platt. Awarded the esteemed creative scholarship from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs she has been in Michigan since December 2013. Ms. Masuda holds a BA and MA in oil painting from Kyoto City University of Arts and an impressive record of solo and group exhibitions in Japan. During her time at UM, Ms. Masuda has been researching cultural ideas surrounding the representation of landscape.

Abstract:

“I have a dispute lately…on an absurd vulgar opinion, which he holds-that we see with our eyes: whereas I assert, that our eyes are only mere glass windows, and we see with our imagination.”
William Gilpin

The term Landscape conjures certain images and associations that are inextricably bound to our subjective cultural constructs. Despite persistent images of pristine nature in photography, painting and advertising media, we are beginning to understand landscape as a more complex space. Visual technologies have transformed landscape culture and appreciation. We are able to see deeper, further and more intensely than ever before. Landscape can be defined as a state of continuous becoming, not an object but a process that can reconcile polarities: artificial and natural, light and dark, above and below, chaos and order, growth and decay.

In this joint lecture artists Kae Masuda and Robert Platt introduce their creative work and discuss the context, process and ideas behind their recent collaboration and the subsequent dialogues between landscape representation in Japan and the West.

Please also attend the exhibit and opening reception

When: November 14 (Fri.) - December 5 (Fri.)

Regular hours: 9 am - 6 pm on weekdays (closed on weekends, Thanksgiving Day, and Friday after Thanksgiving Day)

Where: South Gallery, Building 28, North Campus Research Complex, 2800 Plymouth Road

How to get there: For parking information. Please use your MCard to enter the Complex from the lobby at Building 18 and then take a long walk through the building to Building 28. If you would like to enter from the south entrance (the Building 28 lobby) or you do not have an MCard, please contact the Gallery/Exhibitions Director Maureen Devine.

The opening reception will be held as follows:

When: November 20 (Thu.), the day of their Noon Lecture, from 5 to 8 pm

Where: South Gallery and Lobby, Building 28, North Campus Research Complex, 2800 Plymouth Road

How to get there: For parking information, click here for the map. Please use your MCard to enter the Complex from the lobby at Building 18 and then take a long walk through the building to Building 28. If you would like to enter from the south entrance (the Building 28 lobby), please contact the Gallery/Exhibitions Director Maureen Devine.

Both the exhibition and opening reception are free and open to the public.