Artist Reception, 'Aya Rodriguez-Izumi: Signals'
Join the NHGCA and visiting artist Aya Rodriguez-Izumi in person for a walk through her solo exhibition, 'Signals' at the NHGCA
Aya Rodriguez-Izumi: Signals
Closing reception Saturday, August 29th from 3-5 p.m. with the artist present
The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art proudly presents Signals, a solo exhibition of work by Aya Rodriguez-Izumi. Featuring a suite of ‘nobori’ - Japanese-style announcement, or signal, flags interpolating the gallery space - along with printed materials. The exhibition centers abstraction, featuring a balance shape and color while speaking to past histories in an accessible manner. The artist also presents a limited suite of limited edition bookmark artworks free for the visitor to take, presented inside a cabinet of a wooden shelves meant to echo a Japanese ‘tokonoma’: this object was created by New Harmony’s own Charlie Gaston in a collaborative effort to welcome guests to the gallery and to give them a multi-sensory entry point into the exhibition. This collaborative activity echoes Rodriguez-Izumi’s own work as an artist-collaborator building bodies of artwork with handmade objects created by community residents, featured in this and other series of work by the artist such as ‘Wish’ and ‘Gate 3.’
The symbolic power of a ‘nobori’ flag throughout present-day Japan can be witnessed by walking a block in a small town or driving through a city: car dealerships and political candidates alike adopt this ubiquitous flag format as a direct way to grab the attention of the viewer. The signal flag itself has a rich history of use over the years, serving as a battle standard during historical battles and advertising treats at seasonal local festivals in equal measure. In this exhibition, Rodriguez-Izumi adopts the ‘nobori’ as a format for investigating the intersections of formal and conceptual expression, whereby the formal elements -- shapes and colors -- echo buried pasts and complex legacies. Join the gallery + the artist and take away a limited edition bookmark with the artist's 'hanko' signature while supplies last for free! Light refreshments, free and open to the public.