Frederick Harris Gallery

The former Genkan Galley was renamed in December 2010 to honor the late Dr Frederick Harris, a former Club president, longtime chair of the Genkan Gallery Committee, renowned artist and cultural ambassador whose profound contributions to the Club and the grander art world over the decades were plentiful.

The Frederick Harris Gallery houses a changing selection of fine artwork from local and internationally renowned artists. Exhibitions feature a new artist every month, with works ranging from oil paintings and traditional Japanese woodblock prints to ceramics and sculptures.

Much of the displayed artwork is available for purchase through the Member Services Desk. Sales of works begin at 6 pm on the first day of the exhibition.

Artist Exhibitions
Artists interested in exhibiting their artwork can complete an application at the Member Services Desk. Showcased artists are selected by the Frederick Harris Gallery Committee.



Featured Artists




       

Shoichi Sakurai
April 23–May 13

Shoichi Sakurai transforms obsolete, discarded and underappreciated old metal and aged wood into illuminated sculptures and even wearable art, earning him the label “recycle artist.”
“The materials I use have a past life—discarded pieces, with their history recorded in their scratches and scars,” says the 50-year-old Tokyoite, who works with a variety of items, including old tools and appliances. “Instead of being looked upon as unsightly, I want those elements to be taken in as part of the character of the piece and as a compliment to their intrinsic beauty.”
Around 20 years ago, Sakurai lived in California and worked as a buyer of vintage memorabilia. It was during this time that his eyes were opened to the beauty of Japan and its traditions.
In 1995, while backpacking in Asia with his American wife, Colleen, he was inspired, again, by the unique crafts they encountered on their travels. Returning to Japan, he opened a workshop, focusing on melding Japanese aesthetics and craftsmanship with his own modern spin.
“I look at an abandoned piece and it speaks to me. I then go about translating what I hear,” says Sakurai, who, exhibiting for the third time at the Club, will display a new line of wearable sculpture this month as part of a wider show titled “Rebirth.”
Having taken his inspired artwork to galleries across the world, Sakurai still enjoys discovering new uses for recycled materials he hasn’t worked with before. “Don’t waste. Recreate. Redefine,” he says. “Life and value don’t have to be measured in what was.”.

Gallery Reception
Monday, April 23
6:30–8 p.m.
Frederick Harris Gallery (B1 Formal Lobby)
Free
Open to invitees and Members only



       

Brian Williams
May 14–27

Five years ago, while painting about 10 meters above a river, Brian Williams dropped his favorite brush into the water. Following it downstream, he had a revelation.
“It struck me that…as long as our eyes are open, we are continually shifting our gaze from one thing to the next,” he says. He wondered if he could make that sensation a part of his works of art.
The painter set about recreating awe-inspiring vistas on curved panels with undulating outlines, inventing a style he calls parabolic art. “The reward is a depth of illusion,” he says, “and also a sense of being there on the scene that no flat painting can ever match.”
Williams, 62, began pursuing a career as an artist at age 16, after moving from his childhood home in Chile to finish high school and attend the University of California at Santa Barbara. Arriving in Japan in 1975 with a backpack and $300, he now resides in a renovated farmhouse in Kyoto with his wife, Hidemi.
The son of American missionary parents, Williams says he is forever in search of inspiration. This quest has taken him to some of the world’s most impressive cultural and natural wonders, including the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, the barren expanse of the Taklamakan Desert in western China, the belly of the Grand Canyon and India’s white marbled Taj Mahal. 
This month, the award-winning artist brings a selection of his work to the Frederick Harris Gallery. “I want to communicate my conviction that modern humans need to reestablish their convictions with the natural world to live a more human life—richer, happier and, indeed, to survive,” he says. “Let’s green the cities instead of paving and gutting the country.”
Williams’ book Brian’s Eye: The Origin of Parabolic Painting is on sale at the Library.

Gallery Reception
Monday, May 14
6:30–8 p.m.
Frederick Harris Gallery (B1 Formal Lobby)
Free
Open to invitees and Members only



       

Masayasu Uchida
May 28–June 10

Ripping, tearing and sometimes dyeing to get it right, Masayasu Uchida brings Japan’s breathtaking landscapes to life in vibrant woodblock prints.
“I do not make a draft nor under sketch,” he says. “[I] usually rely only on impressions grounded in my heart that will eventually be pictured in my mind’s eye.”
He begins by strategically shredding paper by hand. Then, tactfully layering the pieces onto plywood, the Yokosuka native converts what began as a multicolored mosaic into a singular captivating vision.
As an artist, he answers to one woman: Mother Nature. “Humans create fiction, so nature is my utmost teacher,” he says. And when he can’t find a suitable colored page from his arsenal of 100 hues, he creates one through dyeing.
A graduate of Yokohama National University, Uchida worked in public relations for a Tokyo-based confectionary company before establishing an ad design center in 1956. Fifteen years later, he launched his first solo exhibition, “The Heart of Japan,” at the Mitsubishi Gallery.
Since then, he has become a coveted craftsman, earning many accolades, including the renowned Japan Federation of Printing Industries President’s Award in 1981. At 89 years old, he has dedicated decades to art, but he’s far from finished.
The consummate designer crafts engaging ceramic murals and earthenware for display at community and sports centers across Tokyo. These social hubs, like the Frederick Harris Gallery, where a series of his eye-catching prints will be on display this month, are ideal show houses for the man who says his work is meant to be enjoyed.
“My art themes are created from the heartfelt feelings born from Japan’s beautiful nature and its people,” he says. “I would be more than happy if you would feel the same.”

Gallery Reception
Monday, May 28
6:30–8 p.m.
Frederick Harris Gallery (B1 Formal Lobby)
Free
Open to invitees and Members only