After a successful small exhibition at Liever Hier earlier this year, Japan in gouache and watercolour, artist and Japanologist Philo Ouweleen will present a new solo exhibition from Tuesday 9th of July to Sunday 29 August, 2021 at Amsterdam-based bookstore Scheltema. Combining three art projects, – Stories from Kameoka (2019), Japanese garden (2020) and Japanese mythology (2020, ongoing) – Ouweleen presents a diverse and loving image of Japan.
Stories from Kameoka depicts an intimate portrait of daily life in rural Japan. Japanese garden, – a series of two landscape paintings -, is based on a dear memory of a visit to the famous Kōraku-en garden in Okayama. With Japanese mythology, Ouweleen explores the vast world of Japanese stories, legends and tales. She combines her own imagination with existing visualizations of these fantastical creatures, monsters, spirits and gods from Japanese art history.
Ouweleen captures her fascination with Japan in painting, but also through research and writing. Accompanying the art project Stories from Kameoka, Ouweleen self-published an art book, available at Scheltema. For her art project Japanese mythology, an art blog with additional information can be found by scanning the QR code that you will find at the painting Tengu on Mount Kurama.
The exhibition at Scheltema can be viewed every day from 10.00 to 19.00. The paintings are located at the staircase, the exhibition starts on the third floor and ends on the ground floor and can be combined with a browsing session through the books one of the biggest Dutch bookstores located in Amsterdam.
Ouweleen’s interest in Japan is reflected in her paintings both thematically as well as visually. Her visual style is characterized by bold lines and flatness, inspired by manga, anime and Japanese woodblock prints. She works on paper with gouache and watercolour. Ouweleen holds an MA in Japan Studies from the University of Leiden, with a specialization in Japanese Arts and Media. She is also a public speaker, talking about Japanese visual culture for institutions and organizations, such as Japan Museum SieboldHuis, Melkweg Amsterdam and Lab 111.
