ten: Recent Paintings and Drawings by Brian Yoshimi Isobe
May 3 - September 17, 2002

Brian Yoshimi Isobe was born in Honolulu in 1954 and currently works and resides in the San Francisco Bay area. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the University of HawaiÎi÷Manoa in 1976 and his Master of Arts from San Francisco State University in 1981.

The title for this exhibition is ten, the Japanese word for sky or heaven. A fourth-generation Japanese-American, Isobe is inspired by Japanese art and craft and by Zen Buddhism. The calm simplicity of his paintings and works on paper reflects this heritage. Isobeâs works, which depict details of the natural world, search for order in chaos by focusing on specific elements found in nature: water, sky, leaves, stones and flowers.

Isobe is interested in painting things that are anonymous yet universal. He is drawn to his subjects for their abstract qualities and their metaphysical symbolism. Although his paintings can be interpreted as still lifes, he sees them as abstract. He depicts not a specific body of water, but a study of the light refracted on the rippling surface of water. His canvases are meticulously painted, showing every detail of grass, water, stones or leaves. Each painting is done in a square format, which suggests no horizontal or vertical movement. This quality allows the viewer to become lost within repetitive patterning, thereby inspiring a meditative state.