TATSU: Depictions of Dragons in Japanese Art

Admission: FREE
Registration is preferred, but walk-ins are also welcome!

Please come and celebrate start of the Year of the Dragon at our special preview event for the art exhibition titled “TATSU: Depictions of Dragons in Japanese Art” at the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles. A curator of the exhibition, Meher McArthur will be present and give participants a guided gallery tour.

*** Plus Live Japanese Calligraphy Performance by Kuniharu Yoshida! ***

About the Exhibition:

The year 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the East Asian zodiac. Japan Foundation Los Angeles will celebrate this year with the exhibition TATSU: Depictions of Dragons in Japanese Art. Featuring art works from three local collections and curated by Meher McArthur, the exhibition celebrates the dragon as a beloved motif in a wide range of Japanese art, from paintings and prints to ceramics, metalwork, and textiles.

The Japanese dragon, known as tatsu or ryū (readings of the Chinese character “龍” simplified to “竜”), is largely inspired by the Chinese dragon, or long (龍), a benevolent creature associated with imperial power and protection. However, dragons have also featured in native Japanese mythology and legends and in all types of art for many centuries. This exhibition will include a variety of dynamic and beautiful Japanese art works that depict the dragon not only as an exciting mythical creature but an enduring symbol of power and protection.

About Curator:
Meher McArthur

Meher McArthur is an Asian art historian specializing in Japanese art, with degrees from Cambridge University and London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). She was Curator of East Asian Art at Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA (1998-2006) and for over a decade has curated traveling exhibitions for International Arts & Artists (IA&A), most recently Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper (2021-2024) on view at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego until January 7, 2024. Her most recent exhibition SHIKI: The Four Seasons in Japanese Art opened at the Sturt Haaga Gallery at Descanso Gardens in February 2023. She was Creative Director for the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden, Pasadena (2014-2020), Academic Curator for Scripps College, Claremont (2018-2020) and Art and Cultural Director for JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles (2020-2022). Her major publications include Gods and Goblins: Folk Paintings from Otsu (PAM, 1999), Reading Buddhist Art (Thames & Hudson, 2002) and The Arts of Asia (Thames & Hudson, 2005), Confucius (Pegasus Books, 2011), Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami (IA&A, 2012), New Expressions in Origami Art (Tuttle, 2017), Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper (IA&A, 2021) and An ABC of What Art Can Be (The Getty Museum, 2010).

About Performer:
Kuniharu Yoshida

Kuniharu Yoshida (KUNI) is a Japanese Calligrapher and Hip-hop dancer. He was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, into a family of generational Master Calligraphers, and is currently based in Los Angeles, CA. In 1990 at the age of six, he began to learn Japanese Calligraphy under Master Yoshiko Kawakita. After practicing traditional calligraphy for two decades, he began to experiment and collaborate with artists to combine sublime arts, merging traditional with contemporary. Respect between different cultures is the foundation of Kuniharu’s unique work, designed to intertwine not just art but also audiences. He finds art is a great way to increase understanding amongst people of various backgrounds while communicating one’s culture in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. Most notably, his works have been included in the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum’s Ueno Art Exhibition with Japan Calligraphy Exhibition and he has done performances for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Netflix, and Sony Electronics. In recent years, Kuniharu has expanded his work into directorial and production work, where his short film First Street North won Best Documentary Short in the 2019 Asian Film Festival of Dallas.