Japan

In Shigeru Narikawa’s exquisite color mezzotints two traditions merge – the Japanese art of still-life and floral display and the time-honored mezzotint technique. Small in scale and delicately balanced, Narikawa’s prints are enhanced by the soft, somewhat blurred, tonalities of mezzotint that lend them an illusive, supra-realistic appearance. Narikawa studied art at the Tokyo Designer School (1966-67) and at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (1969-73) before moving to New York City in 1977 to specialize in mezzotint at the Pratt Graphics Center which subsequently honored him with a Merit Award in 1979. Narikawa has won other awards including the Contemporary Arts Center of Hawaii Purchase Award (1978, 1979) and the Rockford College Purchase Award (1979).

One of a small group of young printmakers drawn to the challenge of mezzotint, Narikawa has begun to exhibit his prints seriously during the past three years. His work has been featured at many important print exhibitions, including the Ljubliana International Print Biennial, Yugoslavia (1979); the Print Club Biennial, Philadelphia (1979); New Directions in Printmaking, Pratt Graphics Center (1978); Boston Printmakers 32nd National Exhibition (1979); and the Artists Who Make Print Exhibitions, the National Endowment for the Arts (1980).