Galleries / Museums

BODEGA BAY — The Ren Brown Collection, which specializes in contemporary Japanese art and California artists, will present “Feminine Buddhas,” an exhibition by local artist Mayumi Oda, from March 11 to April 18.

Original paintings, silkscreens and etchings from the past 40 years will be included in this special show celebrating the gallery’s 20th anniversary in collaboration with the San Francisco Zen Center and Green Gulch Farm.

An exhibition of new works by New York-based painter Barbara Takenaga is on view at Gregory Lind Gallery, 49 Geary St. (fifth floor) in San Francisco, until Saturday, March 27.

Takenaga’s paintings, which include acrylic on linen and wood panel, evoke provocative connections to everything from ancient Tibetan mandalas to photographs of deep space, and represent a complex interplay of dualities that inhabit both the cosmos and human imagination. The tension between depth and surface, microcosm and macrocosm, and creation and destruction is rendered in multilayered visual narratives.

SACRAMENTO — “Uprooted: The Japanese American World War II Experience” is on view at the California State Museum of History, Women, and the Arts, 10th and O streets in Sacramento, until March 19.

Through photographs and artifacts – including crafts and other artwork made in the internment camps – this exhibit surveys a century of Japanese American history in California.

New People partners again with Bazaar Bizarre SF to present the New People Artist Village Vol. 2, a brand new Japanese pop art extravaganza to celebrate the debut of the New People Collection at the Superfrog Gallery.

The New People Artist Village Vol. 2 kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 13, with a Valentines-themed art emporium taking place from 12 to 8 p.m. The one-day-only event will feature 11 vendors stationed in kiosks throughout the building offering works from an eclectic mix of Asian and Western artists influenced by Japanese pop culture.

HANFORD — The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, 15770 Tenth Ave. in
Hanford, will present “The Splendor of the Japanese Screen” from Feb. 6 to April 10.

Japanese folding screens or byōbu occupy a special position not only as work of art but also as functional piece of furniture. These “wind walls,” the literal translation for byōbu, had many different uses that are connected to their impressive size in combination with their elegant expression.

The Asian Art Museum/Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture will hold the 14th annual Preview Opening Reception of the Arts of Pacific Asia Show on Thursday, Feb. 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason, Buchanan and Marina in San Francisco.

More than 70 art dealers will be showcasing their Asian art including sculpture, furniture, paintings, ceramics, antiques and contemporary art. The reception is an opportunity to meet the dealers, preview the art and enjoy a sumptuous buffet.

WASHINGTON — For only the second time in its history, the Smithsonian Institution is mounting an exhibition related to the internment camps.

The show, which will be held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, is to be called “The Art of Gaman,” and is based on Delphine Hirasuna’s book of the same name. Hirasuna, a member of the San Francisco JACL, is also serving as guest curator.

The exhibition opens March 5 and will run through Jan. 30, 2011, and is expected to draw upwards of 200,000 visitors from around the world.

(Editor’s note: The following announcement is from the Topaz Museum — http://topazmuseum.org — in Utah. Unfortunately, it came to our attention only recently, after the January meetings were held.)

We have been talking, thinking and yes, dreaming of a Topaz Museum to display and preserve artifacts and tell the full history of Topaz. It is now time to build a facility that will tell the history and educate people about Topaz internment.

Currently we are renting a small space from a local museum in Delta. We need our own space to ensure that Topaz will not be forgotten.

HANFORD — “Lethal Beauty: Samurai Weapons and Armor” will be on view at the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, 15770 10th Ave. in 
Hanford, until Saturday, Jan. 30.

The center’s fall exhibition, curated by Andrea Marks, director and chief curator, opened in September.

"The Provoke Era: Postwar Japanese Photography" is on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 3rd St. between Mission and Howard in San Francisco, until Sunday, Dec. 20.

The tumultuous period following World War II proved fertile ground for a generation of Japanese photographers who responded to societal upheaval by creating a new visual language dubbed "Are, Bure, Boke" — rough, blurred, and out of focus.