#WowManabu! Manabu Ikeda: USA Debut at moCa Cleveland

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The first North American retrospective of its kind, Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage presents over 50 works from the past 25 years. Seeking inspiration from his surroundings, Ikeda (born 1973, Saga, Japan; lives and works in Madison, WI) brings attention and inspiration to viewers while sending warnings about the painful reality of environmental disasters. Central to his practice are metaphors of grief and the undeniable aspects of life, 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.

Organized by the Audain Art Musuem (Whistler, Canada) and curated by Kiriko Watanabe, Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Curator, the show includes several of Ikeda’s renowned monumental works including Foretoken (2008), Meltdown (2013), and Rebirth (2013-16). In each of his works, Ikeda painstakingly constructs worlds that are both profoundly familiar and yet beyond comprehension, inspiring and awe-inspiring in equal measure. The artist created Meltdown and Rebirth as a response to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the most devastating earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power disaster in the country’s recorded history.

moCa Cleveland's presentation of this exhibtion marks its United States debut.

We are very fortunate in Cleveland to have Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage make its United State debut at our very own moCa Cleveland in Uptown Cleveland - University Circle. When I saw Manabu Ikeda's exhibition, along with two other new exhibitions, as part of the moCa Cleveland Opening Night Celebration, I knew I would need to come back a few more times. There is so much to see in the details of Manabu Ikeda's artwork. Fortunately, the exhibition is in Cleveland through May 26, 2024, and moCa Cleveland is always FREE and open to all.

This blog post is about the February 2, 2024, moCa Cleveland Opening Night Celebration, and my March 29, 2024, return visit during a Studio Access with Manabu Ikeda session at moCa Cleveland.

 

 

February 2, 2024 - moCa Cleveland Opening Night Celebration

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Celebrate with the artists as moCa unveils three new exhibitions.

FREE for all

The season includes three new exhibitions:
● The United States debut of Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage;
● A two-location experience of Andrea Bowers: Exist, Flourish, Evolve, located at moCa and the Great Lakes Science Center;
● and a new immersive mural by Ariel Vergez: Sacred Garden, presented in partnership with Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center.

Experience the exhibitions, sips from the bar, and local tasty bites.

I was fortunate to attend the moCa Cleveland Opening Night Celebration to join others in our community in seeing the three moCa Cleveland exhibitions for the first time. I enjoyed them all, and recommend you get to the museum before these three exhibitions close on May 26, 2024.

In addition to the opening of the three new exhibitions, there was a special opening night artist talk:

Opening Night Artist Talk
Artist Manabu Ikeda in conversation with curator Kiriko Watanabe.

. . . Feb 02, 2024, 7:15 PM EST
moCa Cleveland, 11400 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA . . .

FREE for all

Join artist Manabu Ikeda as he discusses the creative process behind his monumental ink drawings with exhibition curator Kiriko Watanabe, Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Curator, Audain Art Museum.

This talk is part of the Opening Night Celebration.

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If you get a chance to hear Manabu Ikeda speak, I highly recommend it. Via the translation from Japanese by curator Kiriko Watanabe, I really enjoyed learning directly from him about his life and his artwork. If you missed his talk, I did find the following video from the Audain Art Museum in British Columbia, Canada, that features both Manabu Ikeda and Kiriko Watanabe:

 

This video by the Audain Art Museum does not tell the full story -- I hope that moCa Cleveland plans on either sharing a video of the opening evening, or arranging for Manabu Ikeda to speak again while he is in Cleveland.

After Manabu Ikeda did his artist talk, he joined the attendees in the museum galleries. I started talking to a woman in the galleries about Manabu Ikeda's work, and found out that she was a friend of his from where he lives and works in Madison, Wisconsin. She introduced me to him, and took a photo of us together. She said that he enjoys talking to people as he travels with his exhibition, and if I get a chance, I should buy him a cup of coffee.

At the end of the evening I wrote on social media, ". . . don’t judge the current exhibition by the pictures on the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland moCa website. The elegance and detail of the artwork of 'Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage' cannot be shown on a website; you must go to the museum and see it in person." The following are my photos of the three current exhibitions, but I don't think you can fully appreciate the exhibitions unless you go to the museum and see for yourself:

I recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!

 

Here are my videos from the opening:

I recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.

 

 

March 29, 2024 - Studio Access With Manabu Ikeda at moCa Cleveland

Studio Access w/ Manabu Ikeda

Watch Manabu Ikeda's process as a new artwork comes together.

. . .

Experience the artist create onsite at moCa as he develops a new monumental artwork over the course of the Winter/Spring season.

Seeing the Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage exhibition is going to be special whenever you go, but we are extremely fortunate that Manabu Ikeda is offering special studio access opportunities while he is at moCa Cleveland. Yes, you get to watch him at work! I spent 20 minutes watching him -- his work is incredible. I can't image the stamina and the talent that makes his artwork possible.

See the museum website for updates on the studio access times.

With all the details in Manabu Ikeda's artwork, it is great that the museum provides magnifying glasses in its galleries.

In the following video I created, I take a photo of the full art piece, and then follow with photos of details within the piece. I hope you enjoy the my photos/videos, but more importantly, I hope it encourages you to go to moCa Cleveland several times before Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage closes:

I recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts and scan the QR codes that are in the slides!!

'

 

 

Related Blog Posts

I always like to end my blog posts with a list of related blog posts, but I have written so many blog posts about moCA Cleveland, that I will just recommend seeing the following tags. I hope you take time to explore some of the following:

• moCa (Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland)

• University Circle

• Art

 

We are very fortunate to have Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage in Northeast Ohio. I hope many people go to moCa Cleveland to see this exhibition.