ISE Cultural Foundation

ISE Cultural Foundation is pleased to present "Making Landscapes Speak," curated by Saori Kashio. The exhibition features five artists, Naoko Ito, Anne Percoco, Yukihiro Taguchi, Louis Lim, and Caroline Burghardt whose landscape painting, photograph, collage, video, and installation projects magnify the exciting "voices" of today's living environments.
Landscape art emerged from gradual social changes. In Western paintings, landscapes were inferior to religious and mythological themes, and thus were background settings for them. Before the late seventeenth century, people did not see landscapes as the objects of viewing and pleasure. However, the social changes of the early modern era promoted landscapes to a more independent sphere of representation. Natural landscapes, as opposed to urban environments, became appreciated. People admired the sovereign fields that were independent of outside forces.
Today, we are faced with rapidly shifting phenomena of economical and social changes. We try to capture what our surroundings are and interpret them. "Making Landscapes Speak" witnesses both the complex nature of our time and artists' sincere responses to it. Their works are the testimonial of our dilemma, challenge, and critical perspectives on contemporary society. These five artists have crafted the unique social "voices" of landscapes, rejuvenating them as a major artistic concern, and providing a keen awareness of where we spend our lifetimes.