June 24 – October 9, 2023
Manabu Ikeda:
Flowers from the Wreckage
On display at the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) in Cleveland, Ohio from February 2 – May 26, 2024
Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage features Ikeda’s meticulously detailed pen-and-ink drawings that are filled with astonishing images. This Japanese artist seeks inspiration from his surroundings to bring attention and awe to viewers, as a way of sending warnings about the painful reality of environmental disasters. Central to his practice are metaphors of grief and the undeniable aspects of life that are often beyond society’s control, including the fundamental forces of Mother Nature. Ikeda’s drawings also reveal human resilience and the ability to rise above devastating situations when it appears impossible.
Curated by Kiriko Watanabe, the Audain Art Museum’s Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Curator, this is Ikeda’s first solo retrospective in North America showcasing over sixty works from national and international collections. Flowers from the Wreckage includes Foretoken (2008), Meltdown (2013) and Rebirth (2013-16), a selection of Ikeda’s large-scale drawings that relate to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake; the most devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power disaster in the country’s recorded history.
Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage will be on display in the AAM’s Tom and Teresa Gautreau Galleries from June 24 to October 9, 2023. A full colour exhibition catalogue featuring essays by Kiriko Watanabe and comments by Manabu Ikeda will be available for purchase in the Museum Shop.
Manabu Ikeda Studio Gallery – Now Closed
A studio has been set up in the Museum’s architecturally stunning Upper Galleries, where visitors have the opportunity to observe the process of Ikeda drawing his latest work and interact with him during open studio hours.
Manabu Ikeda, Rebirth, 2013-16 pen, acrylic ink and transparent watercolour on paper, mounted on board, 118.11 x 157.48 in, collection of Saga Prefectural Art Museum
Film by Reactive Designs, Courtesy of Audain Art Museum
Presenting Sponsor:
Major Sponsor:
April 1 Foundation
Supporting Sponsor:
Michael & Inna O’Brian Family Foundation
Generously Supported By:
Susan I. Roop
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