Art breaks free of camp

The paintings of a Japanese-American push back fear and irrationality

By David A.M. Goldberg

Special to the Star-Advertiser

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 05, 2012

~~<p>The work of Hiroshi Honda on display at the Honolulu Museum of Art is a unique and powerful means of exploring the deeply complex issue of Japanese-Americans' internment during World War II. Though many Japanese artists created work while in the camps, Honda's talent with watercolors, ink and graphite present emotional, innovative and very modern representations of life in the camps. Few approach Honda's technical mastery, depth and conscious engagement with broader movements in art.</p>
<p>His style is a personalized hybrid, uniting traditional Japanese sumi-e, Chinese painting and the influences of modern European painters like Cézanne and Picasso. Though the lead image of the show, "Internees Gaming by the Camp Fence," may or may not be an intentional reference to Cézanne's famous "Men Playing Cards," it definitely employs a cubist division of the visual field into multiple facets. Abstracted diamond patterns of chain link recede in the distance but also cross the viewing plane to intersect and resonate with the creases in the men's suits and the triangular structure of their huddled bodies that extend and support the fence.</p>
~~

The work of Hiroshi Honda on display at the Honolulu Museum of Art is a unique and powerful means of exploring the deeply complex issue of Japanese-Americans' internment during World War II. Though many Japanese artists created work while in the camps, Honda's talent with watercolors, ink and graphite present emotional, innovative and very modern representations of life in the camps. Few approach Honda's technical mastery, depth and conscious engagement with broader movements in art.

His style is a personalized hybrid, uniting traditional Japanese sumi-e, Chinese painting and the influences of modern European painters like Cézanne and Picasso. Though the lead image of the show, "Internees Gaming by the Camp Fence," may or may not be an intentional reference to Cézanne's famous "Men Playing Cards," it definitely employs a cubist division of the visual field into multiple facets. Abstracted diamond patterns of chain link recede in the distance but also cross the viewing plane to intersect and resonate with the creases in the men's suits and the triangular structure of their huddled bodies that extend and support the fence. Login for more...