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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Ryo Kiran at Murakami Gallery



invitation card design by Rosa Phoenix
click on image above to see detail



“A Message from the Earth”
Japanese Floral Installation to Exhibit at the Murakami Gallery

(note: this press release was written for Murakami Gallery in 1996)



NEW YORK—Ryo Kiran, master and teacher of Japanese floral arts, will present her unique and innovative work at the Murakami Gallery from October 31st through November 2nd. The gallery is located at 17 East 71st Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10021 and is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 AP until 6 PM.

Ryo Kiran
believes plants in bloom are the most eloquent expressions of nature. Through the traditional Japanese art of floral arrangement (kado), she strives to integrate the organic—flowers and leaves—with the synthetic—the sculpted vessels that hold her extraordinary creations.

Founder of the Ryo Kiran Flower Studio, she is one of the most celebrated innovators of the field and brings a modern aesthetic to the ancient discipline. 

Through arrangement of natural forms Kiran achieves harmonious relationships between the living growth and the vessel in which it is contained. Unusual compositions and unorthodox materials (oxidized metal, blown glass, plastic tubing and mixed media constructions), as well as both exotic and common flowers, are elements in her simple and elegant designs. 

For this exhibit the arrangements will be grouped as an installation, so that their lines, patterns and shapes may be admired as living sculptures. These arrangements are microcosms of a graceful and harmonious world.

The brevity of the exhibition is due to the short life of the blooms. These are ephemeral experiences. When we examine the flowers at their apex, we realize the poignancy of a single, irretrievable moment. But these revelations of beauty—the delicate fragrance of petals, a curling tendril—stay with us even after the flowers disappear.

The Murakami Gallery is located in an elegant and historic townhouse on the Upper East Side in New York City. It was founded in 1993 by Hiroko Murakami, who has assembled an eclectic salon of international artists linked by classic taste and Japanese sensibility.