Exhibitions
Japan’s images of the floating world, also known as ukiyo-e, consistently inspire artistic movements across the globe, including here in the Pacific Northwest. Echoes of a Floating World highlights Japanese woodblock prints from the collection of Tacoma Art Museum and other regional lenders and displays them alongside works by contemporary Northwest artists.
Guest curator Kenji Stoll, a Tacoma-based muralist and tattooist known for his Japanese and American traditional ink, brings a unique perspective:
“What’s really cool about this show is that you’ll see these [woodblock prints] in person, and you’ll also see the ways in which they influence artists who live and work right in our community…It’s a full circle moment.” –Kenji Stoll
Honoring the past while looking towards the future, Echoes of the Floating World showcases the legacy of ukiyo-e in our area and its cultural influence on the current art of our generation.
The Japanese woodblock prints will be shown in three rotations, so check back for more information.
Echoes of the Floating World is made possible through support from the Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheeff Fund for the Decorative and Design Arts, Tacoma Creates, ArtsFund, Tacoma Art Museum members, and with Nominal Support from the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle.
Image Captions:
This page:
Utagawa Kunisada (born Edo, Japan, 1786; died Edo, Japan, 1865)
Actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro in the role of Narita no Shinzo, 1862
Woodblock print<br />
14 3/8 x 9 3/4 in. (36.5 x 24.8 cm)
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd F. Jordan, 1982.5.6
Photo © TAM, by Richard Nicol
Exhibition overview image gallery:
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (born Edo, Japan, 1798; died Japan, 1861)
Yamamoto Kansuke Nyudo Dokisai, 1853
Woodblock print
Sheet Overall: 14 1/8 x 9 5/8 in. (35.9 x 24.4 cm)
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Al and Betsy Buck in memory of Alfred Eliab Buck
and Ellen Baker Buck, 2006.19.21
Takashi Ito (born Gama, Japan, 1894; died Japan, 1982)
Cross Gorge at Kurobe, 1933
Woodblock print
Sheet Overall: 15 1/4 x 10 3/8 in. (38.7 x 26.4 cm)
Mat Overall: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. James W. Lyon, 1971.155.1
Kenji Stoll (born Tacoma, Washington, 1991)
Design for Nikkei Butterfly, 2025
Site-specific mural
Courtesy of the artist
Image courtesy of the artist
Utagawa Hiroshige (born Edo, Japan, 1797; died Edo, Japan, 1858)
Plum Garden, Kamata, 1857
Woodblock print
Overall: 14 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. (36.2 x 23.8 cm)
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. James W. Lyon, 1979.131.25