Tadashi Sato: A Retrospective÷Four Themes
May 3 - September 17, 2002

This exhibition is the first retrospective of noted HawaiÎi artist Tadashi Sato. Organized by James Jensen, TCM Associate Director and Chief Curator, the Tadashi Sato survey will be shown in two parts: at The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center (May 3 ö September 17, 2002) and at The Contemporary Museum, Makiki Heights (June 21 ö August 18, 2002). The survey explores Tadashi Satoâs career and comprises paintings, drawings and watercolors borrowed from public, private, corporate and museum collections in HawaiÎi and the continental United States.

Tadashi Sato (b. 1923) is one of HawaiÎiâs most respected artists. In a career now spanning over 50 years, Sato has become known for his spare, subtle abstract compositions. He is also recognized for works with imagery drawn from the natural world around him, especially the tide pools and submerged rocks of the coastlines where he fishes near his home in Lahaina on the island of Maui. Always, Sato paints with signature delicate, crosshatched brushstrokes.

The exhibition at TCM at First Hawaiian Center examines four themes that Sato has explored in series throughout his career: landscapes/seascapes of Nakalele, Satoâs favorite shoreline fishing spot on Maui; lava fields interpreted in a faceted, "cubist" style that evokes the broken, rough terrain of lava flows; "airscapes," in which Sato depicts the light and shadow play of clouds moving across the landscape; and sea forms, a recent series inspired by the shape of the sea urchin. Also on view is a large painting shown together with its preliminary ink drawing and an oil study on canvasboard, illustrating how Sato develops many of his works from initial idea to finished canvas.

The exhibition at TCMâs primary venue in Makiki Heights provides a broader, chronological overview of Satoâs work and development, beginning with examples of his early Subway Series of the late 1940s. The exhibition includes several of Satoâs early abstract compositions of the 1950s, when he lived and worked in New York and briefly visited Japan. The retrospective then focuses on his achievements as a mature artist in HawaiÎi. This period dates from his return to Maui in1960, when he turned to subject matter inspired by nature and the landscape/seascape. More recent works illustrate Satoâs revisitation of his earlier abstract compositions. Selections from this exhibition will travel to the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in the fall of 2002, where they will be supplemented by works from Maui collections.

A full-color, soft-cover catalogue of the Sato retrospective will be available in June when the second part of the exhibition opens at TCM in Makiki Heights. The catalogue will include an essay on the artistâs work and career, illustrations of all works in the exhibition, documentary photographs, an exhibition checklist and a bibliography. The Contemporary Museum is proud to announce that Verizon Hawaii is the lead sponsor of the Tadashi Sato retrospective exhibition. Through their generous support, TCM is able to bring this survey of Satoâs work to the community.