EMW Gallery is proud to do our weekly feature on one of the artist in our upcoming show, Our American Life. This week’s featured artist is, Tomie Arai.
Tomie Arai is an activist/artist/philosopher/poet/historian, and printmaker, from New York City. She has painted murals with community groups on the Lower East Side, and has designed permanent public works of art for the US General Services Administration’s Art & Architecture Program, the MTA Arts for Transit Program and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Arai’s project Momotaro/ Peach Boy draws upon the popular Japanese folk tale about a baby boy who emerges from a giant peach and grows up to become a hero. The prints in this portfolio form the pages of a fictional narrative, inspired by family memories of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Each of the prints incorporates photographs of Arai’s father, grandfather and son, as well as cartoon characters, material from the National Archives, traditional Japanese motifs and illustrations appropriated from magazines and children’s books.
Join us in celebrating select works by Tomie Arai, a visionary pioneer for Asian American artist.
Post by:
AnRong Xu
EMW Artist in Residence