Takao Tanabe: Printmaker launches at Surrey Art Gallery with an Opening Reception, April 13

Exhibition features over 60 prints by renowned Canadian artist Takao Tanabe, dating from 1948 to 2023

SPONSORED POST BY Surrey Art Gallery

Takao Tanabe’s Cormorant Island (2023), photogravure print. Collection of the Kelowna Art Gallery. Photo by Rachel Topham

Major survey exhibition Takao Tanabe: Printmaker is on display at Surrey Art Gallery from April 13 to June 2. A Spring Opening reception takes place on April 13 from 6:30 pm to 9 pm, featuring a conversation between the exhibition’s guest curator Ian M. Thom and Surrey Art Gallery curator of exhibitions and collections Jordan Strom.

Organized by Kelowna Art Gallery with Thom, this exhibition features over 60 prints by renowned artist Takao Tanabe from their collection, as well as Vancouver Art Gallery and Winnipeg Art Gallery’s collections. Tanabe is among Canada’s most celebrated painters and printmakers, recognized for his landscapes that bridge the gap between abstraction and realism. This iteration of the exhibition will additionally feature selections from Surrey Art Gallery’s own permanent collection.

Although celebrated for his paintings, Tanabe has also pursued printmaking throughout his life. The range of works on display span the entirety of Tanabe’s career, from his earliest linocut Christmas cards dating back to 1948 all the way up to depictions of the West Coast landscape completed as recently as 2023. Along with the tranquil, contemplative portrayals of the Gulf Islands and the Albertan plains for which he is widely known, the exhibition also includes screen-printed hard-edge colour abstractions from the 1960s, monotypes (single editions) of natural forms from the 1950s, and even some of the physical woodblocks used to produce his more recent prints.

Takao Tanabe’s Window (1967), screenprint on paper. Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Photo by Vancouver Art Gallery

Featured works include Prairie Storm (1979), a landscape that breaks broader conventions in printmaking by incorporating ink hand-brushing techniques; and Nootka Afternoon (1993), a woodcut print that utilizes form and colour to depict a stillness between ocean and land. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with essays by Thom and curator Christine May.

Two events are presented alongside Takao Tanabe: Printmaker. Exhibition Tour and Talk with Ian M. Thom and Sherri Kajiwara takes place on April 24 at 6 pm, and Peter Braune’s Talk and Printmaking Workshop is on May 11 at 1 pm.

Also opening at the gallery this spring is the annual juried local artmaking showcase ARTS 2024 from April 27 to July 14.

More details are at Surrey Art Gallery.

Post sponsored by Surrey Art Gallery.

Takao Tanabe’s Prairie Storm (1976/2003), lithograph and acrylic wash on paper. Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Photo by Vancouver Art Gallery