Gathering Kokoro: Tony DeVarco & Mayako Nakamura

Gathering Kokoro: Tony DeVarco & Mayako Nakamura
On View: August 24th – October 20th, 2018
Artists’ Reception: Friday September 7th, 6pm – 8 pm
Artists’ Gallery Talk: Saturday, September 8th, 1 pm

CINCINNATI, OH - Marta Hewett Gallery is pleased to present new photographs, paintings and mixed media works by Tony DeVarco (Santa Cruz, CA) & Mayako Nakamura (Tokyo, Japan) in their most recent cross cultural, collaborative effort in the exhibition, Gathering Kokoro, presented in conjunction with FotoFocus 2018. The exhibition will be on view from August 24st – October 20th. The gallery will host a reception for the artists on Friday, September 7th from 6 - 8pm. DeVarco and Nakamura will lead a discussion describing their working methods across thousands of miles on Saturday, September 8th at 1 pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

DeVarco and Nakamura met in Japan in 2013. After exchanging pieces, the two decided to work on a series that would engage each of their unique styles of photography and painting. “Gathering Kokoro” will feature a selection from the artists’ latest series of collaborative works. “Kokoro” is naturally understood in Japanese culture, but there is no direct translation in English. Conceptually, kokoro unites the notions of the physical heart, the intellectual mind, and the ephemeral, indomitable spirit and sees these three elements as being indivisible from one other. This exhibition will feature unique aspects of each artists’ chosen mediums including paintings from Nakamura’s "The Playground" series presented as an Emaki scroll and their latest collaborative works on paper from the "Figure|Ground" series.

In addition, "Gathering Kokoro" will include an Orihon Book which is presented in conjunction with the FotoFocus Biennial 2018: Open Archive. Recasting digital photos, photomontage and ink sketches into an elegant artifact, this collaborative artwork is created in the ancient style of an ‘Orihon’ book (‘ori' means fold and 'hon' means book’). As both art and artifact, the Orihon Book is a unique specimen for the digital age and carries with it the spirit of the 2018 FotoFocus theme, Open Archive, which “examines our fundamental need to preserve photographs and to tell stories through their collection, organization, and interpretation”. Paying homage to the ancient Asian tradition of bookmaking as a “folding scroll”, this object measures 8 feet long when fully displayed. Printed in Japanese on one side and English on the other, its pages open up concertina style and feature a series of Tony DeVarco’s photographs that capture the age-old ritual of Mayako donning her kimono and Mayako Nakamura’s atmospheric ink studies printed on fine mulberry paper.

Archivist and curator Bonnie DeVarco designed the interior of the book to present an unfolding ‘story’ in the Japanese style of Orihon with folds sewn with 24 karat gold thread using the "stabbed” binding technique. As an object both vintage and familiar, the book’s covers and case are designed and bound by master bookmaker and Cincinnati artist Judith Serling-Sturm.

Artist Biographies:

Mayako Nakamura (b.1976) is a native of Hachioji, Toyko. From 1985-1989 she lived in Northamptonshire, England. After returning to Tokyo she Graduated from Sophia University in 1999 and later lived in Sukhothai, Thailand. In 2009 Mayako graduated from Muashino Art University in Tokyo. Nakamura has received numerous honors and awards for her work. In addition, her works have been used as book covers and on CD jacket illustrations, she collaborates with clothing brands, creates clocks and ceramic paintings as well as paintings on canvas. This is her third show in the United States and first at Marta Hewett Gallery.

Nakamura’s methods “trace the shapes of space and boundaries in everyday” responding to how her body feels. Through her abstract compositions, Nakamura attempts to create another every day, by painting atmospheres; emotions and actions that can't be expressed by words. Art critic Yoshio Katoh describes Nakamura as an “artist who has inherited its (Surrealism) influence in her works and has applied automatic drawing to liberate herself from her more rational mind.”

Tony DeVarco (b. 1961) is a visual artist and seasoned technology professional working in Northern California. He holds a degree in Economics from at DePauw University (1983) and a Masters in Arts Administration from the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati (1986)

As a young artist living in New York City in the 80’s, DeVarco became involved in such innovative programs as Studio in a School, founded by Agnes Gund and Creative Time started by Anita Contini. While coordinating programs for Creative Time, DeVarco was introduced to American abstract expressionist sculptor, Mark Di Suvero. He spent a year and a half as Di Suvero's assistant while living and working on his own art and contributing to the development of Socrates Sculpture Park. In addition to Di Suvero’s direct influence, Tony’s approach to sculpture was deeply inspired by the work of the Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi whom the artist met in 1987.
DeVarco left NYC in 1988 and returned to Cincinnati to teach Arts Administration at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. While there he co-wrote and produced, with Cincinnati playwright and Professor of Drama Michael Burnham, a theater piece entitled Buckminster Fuller: In and Out of the Universe. The play, which also featured DeVarco’s set designs, was presented by the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 1991, Tony was appointed Executive Director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) in Los Angeles where he met his wife Bonnie who was the archivist for the Fuller collection.

FotoFocus Biennial Program: October 4–7, 2018
Now in its fourth year, the FotoFocus Biennial will span 70 museums and galleries across Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, and feature more than 200 artists, curators, and educators. Each Biennial is structured around a unifying theme; for 2018 that theme is Open Archive—emphasizing the centrality of photography and lens-based art to modernism and examining our fundamental need to preserve photographs and to tell stories through their collection, organization, and interpretation. Visit fotofocusbiennial.org for more information.
About: Marta Hewett Gallery has offered works by regional, national and international contemporary artists for 28 years. The gallery is located at 1310 Pendleton Street in Over-the-Rhine, downtown Cincinnati. Gallery hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 am - 5 pm and Saturday, 11 am - 3 pm. Admission and Parking are free. For more information please call the gallery at 513.281.2780 or visit: martahewett.com

Artist Biographies:

Mayako Nakamura (b.1976) is a native of Hachioji, Toyko. From 1985-1989 she lived in Northamptonshire, England. After returning to Tokyo she Graduated from Sophia University in 1999 and later lived in Sukhothai, Thailand. In 2009 Mayako graduated from Muashino Art University in Tokyo. Nakamura has received numerous honors and awards for her work. In addition, her works have been used as book covers and on CD jacket illustrations, she collaborates with clothing brands, creates clocks and ceramic paintings as well as paintings on canvas.

Tony DeVarco (b. 1961) received his Masters in Arts Administration from the College Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati in 1986. Moving to New York City as a young artist, DeVarco became involved in such innovated programs as Studio in a School, founded by Agnes Gund and Creative Time started by Anita Contini. It was while coordinating programs for Creative Time, that DeVarco was introduced to American abstract expressionist sculptor Mark Di Suvero. He spent a year and a half as Di Suvero's assistant while living and working on his own art and contributing to the development of Socrates Sculpture Park. In addition to Di Suvero’s direct influence, Tony’s approach to sculpture and mixed media at the time was deeply inspired by the work of the Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi whom the artist met in 1987.

In 2005 Tony DeVarco returned to his artistic practice with fresh vision and new tools. Through his later years in the digital environments of Silicon Valley while traveling regularly to Japan, Europe and other locations around the globe, his artist’s tools became more technological and ephemeral - a laptop and a digital camera. With these tools, he has explored a completely unique approach to digital mixed media called photomontages.

FotoFocus Biennial Program: October 4–7, 2018
Now in its fourth iteration, the FotoFocus Biennial will span 70 museums and galleries across Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, and feature more than 200 artists, curators, and educators. Each Biennial is structured around a unifying theme; for 2018 that theme is Open Archive—emphasizing the centrality of photography and lens-based art to modernism, and examining our fundamental need to preserve photographs and to tell stories through their collection, organization, and interpretation. Visit fotofocusbiennial.org for more information.

About: Marta Hewett Gallery has offered works by regional, national and international contemporary artists for 27 years. The gallery is located at 1310 Pendleton Street in Over-the-Rhine, downtown Cincinnati. Gallery hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 am - 5 pm and Saturday, 11 am - 3 pm. Admission and Parking are free. For more information please call the gallery at 513.281.2780 or visit: martahewett.com