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Ray Yoshida: The Spaces in Between

June 29, 2019 – June 14, 2020

About

“I’m concerned about the coexistence of disparate forms, the spaces in between: closeness, distances, isolation, attachment, detachment.”

Ray Yoshida reveals the unseen shapes and fragmented forms that anonymously hover within the more concrete objects of the everyday. Whether cutting out all the shirt sleeves from a comic book and arranging them into a collage or reknitting the individual components of a flower (stem, petal, leaves) into an elaborate watercolor grid, Yoshida’s work demonstrates the power and optical allure of a collection. This collagist sensibility also extended to his carefully curated home, where his extensive collection of folk art, tin toys, whirligigs, and masks was prominently on display.

Exploring the interconnectivity of a collection was central to Yoshida’s practice. Shapes that were otherwise isolated and inanimate developed a compelling aura when rearranged and grouped within one of his compositions. Throughout his work, abstract forms are elusive, yet recognizable. Yoshida wanted to create art that evoked questions rather than provided answers, urging the viewer to actively participate in deciphering his images. Is that a shoulder? A mountain? Maybe a head? His distinct, yet related forms, fuse into a synergistic whole—a composition that alludes to the interconnectivity of our lives and the odd, surreal world we inhabit.


Artwork


Educational Resources

Artwork

Uncalculated Crossing. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: 1984. Medium: acrylic on canvas.

Uncalculated Crossing

1984

Ray Yoshida

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Unreasonable Lineage. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: 1975. Medium: felt-tip pen and crayon on paper, cut out and collaged on paper.

Unreasonable Lineage

1975

Ray Yoshida

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Would They?. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: 1992. Medium: collage of comic book clippings, pasted onto paper.

Would They?

1992

Ray Yoshida

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Really?. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: 1995. Medium: collage of comic book clippings, pasted onto paper.

Really?

1995

Ray Yoshida

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UHH.EEE.YAH.EEE.YAAAH. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: 1999. Medium: collage of comic book clippings, pasted onto paper.

UHH.EEE.YAH.EEE.YAAAH

1999

Ray Yoshida

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Stately, Plump, Buck Mulligan. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: c. 1962. Medium: watercolor and graphite on paper.

Stately, Plump, Buck Mulligan

c. 1962

Ray Yoshida

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Episode. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: 1995. Medium: oil on canvas.

Episode

1995

Ray Yoshida

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Uh-Oh!. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: 2000. Medium: collage of comic book clippings, pasted onto paper.

Uh-Oh!

2000

Ray Yoshida

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OOOFF!!. Artist: Ray Yoshida. Date: c. 1990. Medium: collage of comic book clippings, pasted onto paper.

OOOFF!!

c. 1990

Ray Yoshida

Learn more about OOOFF!!.


Support

Exhibitions in the Henry Street Gallery are generously funded through an endowment established by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.