Sarah Brayer

Sarah Brayer
Sarah Brayer
Born	Sarah Brayer; May 25, 1957 (age 67); Rochester, New York
Nationality	American
Education	1975-1979 B.A. cum laude in Studio Art, Connecticut College, New London; 1978 Printmaking study, Middlesex Polytechnic, London, England; 1982-84 Woodblock printing, Toshi Yoshida, Miasa, Japan;
Known for	Washi Paperworks, Aquatint Etching, Woodblock Printing

Sarah Brayer (born 1957) is an American artist who works in both Japan and the United States. She is internationally known for her poured washi paperworks, aquatint and woodblock prints. In 2013 Japan's Ministry of Culture awarded Sarah its Bunkacho Chokan Hyosho ("Commissioner of Culture Award") for dissemination of Japanese culture abroad through her creations in Echizen washi. She currently resides in Kyoto, Japan and New York, U.S.A.

Sarah Brayer's art is in the collections of the British Museum,^[1] the Smithsonian Institution's Sackler Gallery, and the American Embassy in Tokyo.^[2] Brayer was featured at the TED Conference "The Young, the Wise, the Undiscovered" in Tokyo in June 2012.^[3]

Arriving in Kyoto Kyoto in 1980, Brayer studied etching with Yoshiko Fukuda and Japanese woodblock printing with Tōshi Yoshida (1911-1996) the son of influential woodblock artist Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950). Her interest in color gradation was piqued by the woodblock technique, and she subsequently applied similar gradations to her color aquatints. In 1986 Brayer began making large-scale paperworks in the historic paper village of Imadate, Echizen, Japan.

Influences and early works

In the 70's Brayer became interested in Japanese aesthetics through the color aquatints of Mary Cassatt, and Raku-style ceramics. Arriving in Japan in 1979, she studied etching with Yoshiko Fukuda (1937-1986) and Japanese woodblock printing with Toshi Yoshida (1911-1996). In 2007, she was honored as the first western woman artist to have her work on the cover of the CWAJ Print Show catalog, the premier contemporary Japanese print show in Tokyo.

In 1985, Brayer exhibited at the Ronin Gallery in New York, and was reviewed in the NY Times, which noted Day Glow, a large, soft-ground aquatint of Charles Street in New York City that made striking use of Oriental techniques to catch dawn in lower Manhattan.^[4] In 1986 she opened her own print studio in an old kimono weaving factory in Kyoto. That same year she discovered the art of poured washi, and her interest in this technique led her to the historic washi paper center of Echizen in Fukui prefecture. She has been working in the village of Echizen ever since; the only non-Japanese artist who has worked in this 800-year-old village, home to living national treasure paper-makers. She is also the only westerner to work there continuously.^[5] In 1999, she received a grant from the College Women's Association of Japan (CWAJ), which enabled her to develop a pioneering print technique of using washi Japanese paper as a printing medium.^[6] Brayer's early works were realistic cityscapes and landscapes, figures or pathways through the snow. With continued experimentation, her imagery has become more abstract: the flow of a waterfall, the curve of a wave, or the passage of light through clouds.

Recognitions

In 2013 Japan’s Ministry of Culture awarded Sarah its Bunkacho Chokan Hyosho (“Commissioner’s Award”) for dissemination of Japanese culture abroad through her paper creations in Echizen washi.
Sarah has been recognized in Japan as the first artist ever invited to exhibit at Byodoin Temple, a World Heritage site dating from the Heian period, as part of Kyoto’s 1200-year celebration in 1992.

Collections

The Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art: Oceanic Moon (2012 luminescent paperwork mural)
The British Museum: Sojourn (1995 paperwork scroll), Dayglow (1984 aquatint), River Mist Kyoto (1982 woodblock), Yukata (1987 aquatint)
The Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian: First Snow (‘91 aquatint), Expanse (‘95 aquatint)
The Oregon Art Institute: Japanese Bath (‘86 aquatint)
Zimmerli Art Museum: City Pearls (‘86 aquatint), City Light (‘85 woodblock print), Yellow Taxi (’93 paperwork/lithograph), Surge (‘95 editioned paperwork)
Cincinnati Museum: Mankai (‘99 collagraph)
Rochester Memorial Art Gallery: Mikazuki (’07 aquatint/paperwork), Yellow Taxi (’93 paperwork/lithograph), Spring Rice (‘82 aquatint),
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art: Hint of Red (‘09 aquatint/paperwork)
Smith College Museum of Art: Moontrance (‘00 lithograph)
Shimonoseki Art Museum: Shimonoseki Pearls (’05 paperwork)
Worcester Art Museum: Taki (’05 aquatint), Kyoto Snowfall (’81 aquatint)
U.S. State Department: Dayglow (‘84 aquatint)
U.S. Embassy, Tokyo: Kyoto Snowfall (‘81 aquatint)
Newark Public Library: City Jewels (’86 aquatint), Moontrance (‘00 lithograph)
American College Board Collection: Dayglow (‘84 aquatint)
Johns Hopkins Hospitals: Ruby’s Paradise (‘93 paperwork)
University Hospitals, Cleveland: Going Places (commissioned mural), Schoolgirls (‘86 aquatint), Schoolboys (‘86 aquatint), Blue Kyoto (‘87 aquatint)
Citibank, Tokyo: Bather (‘88 lithograph)
TRW, Los Angeles: Together (‘85 aquatint)
RJ Reynolds: City Pearls (‘86 aquatint)
Ozumo, San Francisco: Ryoanji Pools (‘04 paperwork), Source (‘04 paperwork)
Ozumo, Oakland: Blue Surge (‘04 paperwork), Blue Moon (‘08 paperwork), Katsura Squares (‘08 paperwork)

Solo exhibitions

2014 The Castellani Museum of Art, Niagara University
2013 The Verne Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2010 Luminosity: Night Paperworks, Kyoto
2010 The Ren Brown Collection, Bodega Bay, California
2010 Art in June, Rochester, New York
2010 30 Years of Art in Kyoto
2007 The Ren Brown Collection, Bodega Bay, California
2007 Gallery Bonten, Shimonoseki, Japan
2007 Round the Horn, Nantucket
2006 Whisper to the Moon, Kyoto
2005 The Ren Brown Collection, Bodega Bay
2005 Gallery Bonten, Shimonoseki
2004 Azuma Gallery, Seattle
2004 Tokyo American Club
2004 Esmay Fine Art, Rochester
2004 Ronin Gallery, New York
2002 Kato Gallery, Tokyo
2002 The Tolman Collection, Tokyo
2001 Hanga Ten, London, England
2001 Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastridge, England
2000 Takashimaya Gallery, Yokohama
2000 Tokyo American Club
2000 The Tolman Collection, Tokyo
1999 The Ren Brown Collection
1999 Gallery Bonten, Shimonoseki, Japan
1998 Gallery Rewdex, Kyoto
1997 The Tolman Collection, Tokyo
1997 Ars Locus Gallery, Kyoto
1996 Ronin Gallery, New York
1996 Tokyo American Club, Tokyo
1996 Gallery Bonten, Shimonoseki, Japan
1995 Dieu Donne Gallery, New York
1995 WICE Artspace, Paris
1995 Daimaru Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1995 Kanda Gallery, Okinawa, Japan
1994 Takashimaya Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
1994 Shoestring Gallery, Rochester, New York
1994 A Sense of Place, The Verne Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
1993 Takashimaya Gallery, Tamagawa, Tokyo, Japan
1993 Tokyo American Club, Tokyo, Japan
1993 The Ren Brown Collection, Bodega Bay, California
1993 Galeries Ann Monnet, Kyoto, Japan
1992 Sarah Brayer at Byodoin Temple Invitational honoring Kyoto’s 1200th year
1992 Azuma Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1992 Gallery Cocteau, Kyoto, Japan
1992 Shoestring Gallery, Rochester, New York
1992 Kanda Gallery, Okinawa, Japan
1991 Recollections: Tokyo American Club
1991 Takashimaya Gallery, Yokohama
1991 Daimaru Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1991 Takashimaya Gallery, Tamagawa, Tokyo
1990 Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut, Invitational
1990 Ronin Gallery, New York
1990 Shoestring Gallery, Rochester, New York
1989 Kato Gallery, Tokyo
1989 Gallery Blanche, Osaka
1989 Kintetsu Gallery, Kyoto
1989 Tokyo American Club, Tokyo
1989 Gallery San, Kyoto
1988 The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan
1988 April Sgro-Riddle Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1988 Daimaru Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1988 Shukugawa Gallery, Shukugawa, Japan
1987 Sumi Arts, Hong Kong
1987 The Japanese Bath and other Landscapes Carter Arcand Gallery, Portland
1987 Kato Gallery, Kobe, Japan

Selected group exhibitions

2018 MOON, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca NY
2014 Celestial Threads: The Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
2011 The William J. Dane Fine Print Collection, Newark Public Library
2009 IMPACT the Big Print, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, Cal. Curated by Donna Westerman
2009 WOOD. METAL. STONE: Contemporary Japanese prints The Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Connecticut
2007 Catalogue Cover artist and Poster artist, for the 52nd CWAJ Print Show, Tokyo, Japan
2005 The Color of Night: How Artists Work with Darkness, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
2003 Japan Through Western Eyes, The Morikami Museum, Del Ray Beach, Florida
2003 Snow in Winter: Ukiyo-e and Contemporary Prints from Japan, The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London
2003 1853-2003: A Sesquicentennial Salute to Commerce and Cultural Exchange between Japan and the USA, the Newark Public Library, Newark NJ
2002 Rags to Riches: 25 Years of Paper Art from Dieu Donne Papermill: Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Travelling to Mariana Kistler-Beach Museum of Art and the Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY
2001 Rags to Riches: 25 Years of Paper Art from Dieu Donne Papermill, Kresge Art Museum, Michigan; Maryland Institute College of Art
1999 Miyabi: a Celebration of Beauty by Five American Artists of Kyoto, Sogetsu Museum, Tokyo. Produced by the Tolman Collection
1997 Across Cultures: Five Contemporary Artists from Japan, Allen Memorial Museum, Oberlin, Ohio
1995 Out of the Drawing Room, Recent Acquisitions: Works on Paper by Women Artists, The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester
1995 Works on Paper The Verne Collection, New York
1994 The Verne Collection, Cleveland, Ohio
1992 Almost a Century after Helen Hyde and Bertha Lum, the Mitzie Verne Collection, Cleveland
1992 Accent on Paper: 15 Years at the Dieu Donne Papermill Lintas Worldwide, New York
1990 Intaglio Printing in the 1980s The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
1988 Relief Printing in the 1980s The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University. Curated by Trudy Hansen
1987 Mary Ryan Gallery, New York
1987 Eight Artists from Kyoto Takashimaya Gallery, Yokohama
1987 Prints from the Yoshida Studio, Kabutoya Gallery, Tokyo
1986 "Curator’s Choice" Portland Art Institute, Oregon
1986 Saga Print Annual New York
1986 The Bank of Tokyo, Hong Kong
1986 April Sgro-Riddle Gallery, Los Angeles
1985 50/50 Monoprints-Prints Montgomery College
1984 The Caraccio Collection, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster
1984 American Painters from Kyoto, Ronin Gallery, New York
1984 Foreign Artists in Kyoto Hankyu Gallery, Senri Osaka
1982-2014 The College Women’s Association of Japan Print Show Tokyo
1998-2014 The New York Print Fair, the Armory, New York City
1982-2010 Kyoto Etching Association Annual Kyoto City Art Center

Publications

2018 Sarah Brayer: The Complete Prints 1980-2018
2011 Cover Art, Kyoto Journal, Volume 76
2009 Cover Art, Kyoto Journal, Volume 73
2007 Cover art, 52nd CWAJ Print Show catalog. Tokyo Poster and postcard for CWAJ Print Show, Tokyo. Nick Jones, “Paper Moon” In Touch (TAC magazine), October 2007. Tokyo “Woman By the Sea”cover art, novel in Hebrew by Itai Kohavi, Tel Aviv
2006 Hand Papermaking summer 2006, noted exhibitions: Sarah Brayer
2005 April Vollmer, Intersections of East and West: Contemporary Printmakers in Japan, Contemporary Impressions, Spring 2005. “City Pearls” printed in the Zimmerli Journal 3, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University of NJ. "Woman By the Sea” cover art for Shakespeare's Will by Vern Thiessen, Canada Playwrights
2003 Rosemary T. Smith, Japan Through Western Eyes, 1854 to the Present, The Morikami Museum, Del Ray Beach, Florida CWAJ print artists and scholars create a good impression, The Japan Times, October 15, 2003 Kyoto Shimbun, feature article Nov. 11, 2003
2002 Angela Jeffs, Celebrating “washi” in tune with Kyoto winters, The Japan Times, Nov. 30, 2002 Dai-ichi Seimei Hall, cover art, The Rubio Quartet and Yoshiko Endo Tokyo American Club magazine “47th Annual Print Show”
2002 Kyoto Journal, inside art
2001 Wigmore Hall, cover art, The Rubio Quartet and Yoshiko Endo
2000 Sarah Brayer, Sarah Brayer Prints 1980-2000
1999 Isabel Reynolds,”American artist gets it down on paper, ” The Daily Yomiuri, April 15, 1999 Five American Artist of Kyoto, Hanga Geijitsu No. 104, Tokyo Japan, p. 111
1997 Betsy Franco & Michael Verne, Quiet Elegance: Japan Through the Eyes of Nine American Artists Across Cultures: Five Contemporary Western Artists from Japan Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College Bulletin Number 1 Trudy Hansen, Evolving Forms/Emerging Faces; Trends in Contemporary American Printmaking, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
1995 Kyoto Journal, inside cover art, Spring 1995
1994 “Prints and Paperworks of Sarah Brayer,” Journal of the Print World, Spring 1994. Helen Cullinan, “Prints offer views of Japan,” The Plain Dealer, May 20, 1994.
1994 Review Roberto Casin, “Paper and Color,” Aboard magazine, May/June
1993 “Post Modern Japanesque,” Kimono, November 1992 Peter Mallett, “ Papermaking offers Creative, Colorful Medium,” Asahi Evening News, Sept. 5, 1993
1992 “Culture Portrait,” Photo, January 15, 1992 Journal of the Print World, Almost a Century after Helen Hyde and Bertha Lum, the Mitzie Verne Collection, Cleveland
1991 Stewart Wachs, “Painter’s Career Flourishes in Kyoto,” The Japan Times, Feb. 10, 1991. *review
1990 Ron Netsky, “Work from Kyoto to Brighton,” Democrat and Chronicle, May 20, 1990. *review Zimmerli Art Museum, Intaglio Printing in the 1980s
1989 cover art Alan Booth, Tsugaru; Looking for the Lost
1988 Zimmerli Art Museum, Relief Printing in the 1980s: Prints and Blocks from the Rutgers Archives for Printmaking Studios Ron Netsky, “From the Beauty of Kyoto to a Regional Print Show,” Democrat and Chronicle, March 6, 1988. Stewart Wachs, “Painting with liquid paper produces new genre for Brayer,”The Japan Times, November 21, 1988. *review
1985 Lawrence Smith, Contemporary Prints From Japan: Symbols of a Society in Transition Grace Glueck, The New York Times, March 22, 1985.* review

Lectures and interviews

2018 Lecture, “Luminosity," The Stoikov Lecture in Asian Art, The Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University
2017 Lecture, The Print Club of New York, 2017 Presentation Artist
2001 Lecture, “Painting With Paper," The Japan Society, London England Lecture, “Painting With Paper “, Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh, England
1995 Lecture, "Viewpoints," the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester
1992 Feature story on Byodoin exhibition, NHK News, Kyoto, September 22 Byodoin exhibition, NHK News Kansai, September 25
1990 Lecture, “ Painting with Liquid Paper," The College Women's Association of Japan, Tokyo.
1989 Interview “Catch Up: Tokyo Art Expo,” Marui News, Tokyo, November
1988 Museum of Modern Art Shiga exhibition, NHK News, Kansai, November 12, 1988.

References

^ River Mist, at the British Museum
^ Artelino.com
^ TED Conference
^ New York Times, March 22, 1985.
^ Japanese Prints at the Verne collection, September 15, 2010
^ Japan Times Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003.

Art piece at British Museum [1]
Artelino.com [2]
TED Conference Sarah Brayer: [3][4]
Japanese Prints at the Verne collection, September 15, 2010: [5]
Franco, Betsy; Verne, Michael (1997), Quiet Elegance: Japan Through the Eyes of Nine American Artists, Tokyo: Tuttle, ISBN 0-8048-3126-2
Japan Times: [6]
New York Times: [7]

External links

Japanese Prints at the Verne Collection, September 15, 2010: [8]
Japan Times: [9]
New York Times: [10]
Deep Kyoto Magazine [11]
Reference at British Museum [12]
TED Conference:[13]* [14]
Cultural agency doles out awards to those promoting Japan, The Japan Times, June 6, 2013: [15]

List of American artists 1900 and after

[1] River Mist, at the British Museum

[2] Artelino.com

[3] TED Conference

[4] New York Times, March 22, 1985.

[5] Japanese Prints at the Verne collection, September 15, 2010

[6] Japan Times Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003.

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