YANG Yongliang, Chinese, born 1980, "Viridescence, page 2," 2009, Ink and color on paper, Gift of Philip and Phyllis DeLaney in honor of David and Mary Ann Cofrin.

GAINESVILLE, FLA.- The Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida welcomes the new year with an innovative exhibition in the David A. Cofrin Asian Art Wing titled Inside Outside: Outside Inside—A Century of East Asian Landscapes 1900s–2000s. Artists from China, Japan and Korea illustrate more than thirty landscapes using formats clearly rooted in tradition but reflect the rapid transformation of urban and natural environments. Inside Outside: Outside Inside is on view from December 18, 2018 to December 1, 2019. 

(detail) YANG Yongliang, Chinese, born 1980, "On the Quiet Water, Sunken Ship," 2008 (ed. 3/8), Digital print on paper, Funds provided by friends of the Harn Museum of Art.

The exhibition includes paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, ceramic and video works that highlight how East Asian landscape traditions remain vibrant in our contemporary world. By employing new media and methods of interpretation, artists, in dialogue with earlier conventions, often simultaneously echo and contradict artistic traditions. Tensions between the natural world and the transition to modernity offer us an avenue to explore how urbanization affects and complements nature. 

ISHIKAWA Toraji, Japanese, 1875–1964, "Mount Fuji from Miho, Spring," Showa Period (1926–1989), 1935, Ink and color on paper, Museum purchase, gift of friends of the Harn Museum.

“For millennia, the subject of landscape has occupied a special place in East Asian artistic traditions,” said Harn Museum of Art Director Dr. Lee Anne Chesterfield. “Providing a look into how artists capture a new modern world while still honoring those traditions is fascinating and an interesting comparison to provide to our visitors.”  

TESSAI Tomioka, Japanese, 1837–1924 and SASAKI Haruko, Japanese, 1847–1940, "Tea Bowl," 1912–1926, Glazed stoneware, Museum purchase, funds provided by the Robert H. and Kathleen M. Axline Acquisition Endowment.

Groupings of objects suggest variations on themes within the genre of landscape, including real and imagined landscapes, the body as medium, cityscapes, seasons of change, and political histories centered on the specifics of geography and place. Inside Outside can also refer to the artist’s own reality: a depiction of a landscape can be a means of describing an inner world, not just the visible one.  

SUNRYUSAI Kiyochika, Japanese, active late 19th/early 20th Century, "Lacquered Tray," Meiji Period (1868–1912), Wood, lacquer, Museum purchase, funds provided by the Robert H. and Kathleen M. Axline Acquisition Endowment

“We are very excited about the exhibition as the New Year marks seasons of change and echoes the themes evident in the show,” said Harn Cofrin Curator of Asian Art Jason Steuber. “East Asian landscapes since the 1900s dealt with the four seasons as well as the advent of modernity and a much more interconnected world.” 

Unknown Japanese artist, "Haori," 1930s–1940s, Cotton, Anonymous gift.

Inside Outside: Outside Inside—A Century of East Asian Landscapes 1900s–2000s is generously supported by the Quinn Family Charitable Foundation with additional funding by the Cofrin Curator of Asian Art Endowment. A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition, as well as an educational gallery guide offering ways for families to connect with the art on view.

SHIBATA Taizan, Japanese, 1821–1884, "Untitled," Late Edo–Early Meiji era, c. 1850–1880, Painting on silk in mineral pigments, gofun, and sumi ink, Gift of Kagedo Japanese Art