TOKYO-FE

WASABI GROOVE


Anri Tsutsumi Solo Exhibition
El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe   |   November 1 - December 7, 2019
Opening Reception Friday, November 1, 5-7pm

 

Press Release:
Santa Fe-based Japanese Painter Holds Contemporary Solo Art Exhibition Titled Tokyo-Fe Wasabi Groove

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO - October 8, 2019

Contemporary painter Anri Tsutsumi is delighted to announce the opening of her solo exhibition Tokyo-Fe Wasabi Groove on November 1, 2019. Open to the public until December 7, 2019, exhibition attendees will enjoy the harmonious blend of Tsutsumi's bicultural experience revealed in her paintings. The community is invited to attend the opening of Tokyo-Fe Wasabi Groove on Friday, November 1 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de la Familia, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Refreshments will be served.

This exhibition of Tsutsumi's contemporary works will contrast the influence of Tokyo - the dense, busy, and frenetic city where she was born and raised - with the significantly more laid-back way of life she's come to appreciate in Santa Fe.

Tsutsumi, who expresses deep love for both Tokyo and Santa Fe, says, "My works are a strange and unique mixture of East and West, geometric and organic, past and future, nostalgia and euphoria." Tsutsumi's work is a joyful jumble of Eastern and Western influences. She explains, "Tokyo wasabi and Santa Fe salsa, they come together in perfect harmony in my heart. With my brushes in hand, I choose colors to paint the funky rhythm and groovy music that they make together." Anri continues to develop her identity as a Japanese woman at home in Santa Fe and the American Southwest - a place she considers her true home.



Tokyo-Fe Wasabi Groove:
Artist Statement


I was born and grew up in Tokyo, Japan which is a very dense, busy, and frenetic city. Buildings are high and vertical. It rains all the time and is very humid. People get in your face and invade your personal space. If there are rainbows, they are only seen in segments, between skyscrapers. The full moon is seen peeking over many, many roof tops. There is noise - a lot of noise! - everywhere, with overlapping sounds that create what I think of as "aural floods."

I fell in love with Santa Fe and moved here to live. Compared to Tokyo, Santa Fe is very small, cozy, and moves at a slow pace. Adobes are orange and horizontal. Rain is considered a blessing as it's very dry. People are laid back and friendly - most of the time! Here, I see perfect double rainbows arching over the mountains. The full moon shines above humongous deserts. There is silence -absolute silence- during the dark nights, and I imagine that I can even hear the twinkling of the stars.

I always felt that I was a misfit in the society I was born into. I was a lost black sheep that kept searching for a path that led me home to myself. After wandering and taking many detours and roundabouts, I discovered my true home, Santa Fe.

Tokyo wasabi and Santa Fe salsa, they come together in perfect harmony in my heart. With my brushes in hand, I choose colors to paint the funky rhythm and groovy music that they make together. Tokyo moonlight, Santa Fe sunshine, the dancing desert, and singing blue sky - they all inspire me to create paintings which are whimsical, optical songs.

My works are a strange and unique mixture of East and West, geometric and organic, past and future, nostalgia and euphoria. It is Tokyo-Fe Wasabi Groove - a harmonious blend of all of the unique aspects of my bi-cultural experience. I hope you can feel my immense love for both Tokyo and Santa Fe. Please enjoy this fun exhibition!





For more information about Anri Tstutsumi, visit the artist's Website