Celebrating Japanese Art - A Curator's Perspective

JPN Art Curator Event Program (PDF)

The Lecture & Presentation will be held inside the Anne Cox Chambers Wing and the Curator Talk will be held inside The Hill Auditorium at the

The High Museum of Art, located at 1280 Peachtree Street, N.E. Atlanta, GA 30309,

For map and directions, please visit https://high.org/directions-and-parking/directions-tab.

The Japan-America Society of Georgia is pleased to present a special program highlighting the unique role ART plays in US-Japan relations. Featuring Aaron Rio, the New York Met's Associate Curator of Japaense Art, and Brandon Sadler, Founder of Rising Lotus Studio, join us for a unique behind the scenes look into 17th century Fusuma-e and Kano School Artists, Kyoto Cultural Association's Tsuzuri Project preserving treasured pieces of Japanese art, and the metamorphisis of the Samurai Armor Exhibit at the High Museum of Art.

About the Speakers

Aaron Rio is the Associate Curator of Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He is a specialist of premodern Japanese painting. His work has been published in books such as The Reception of Chinese Art Across Cultures (Cambridge, 2014), Boundless Peaks: Ink Paintings by Minol Araki (Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2017), and many others. He holds a PhD from Columbia University, where he researched ink painting in the city of Kamakura during the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries.

Brandon Sadler (born 1986) is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Atlanta. He is renowned for his public murals, and his solo and group exhibitions have brought him accolades as one of Atlanta’s most prolific artists. His work is in private collections as well as the collections of institutions including the High Museum of Art. In addition to contributing to the fine art world, he has worked with several major brands to bring his unique vision into the commercial space. Sadler holds a BFA in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design.

Andrew Westover is the Eleanor McDonald Storza Director of Education at the High Museum of Art. An educator and ethicist, Westover helms the learning team at the High, which recently rearticulated its focus: connecting people with art and ideas to inspire better civic life. Westover’s previous positions include posts at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Phoenix Art Museum. Westover began their career as a classroom educator, and prior to museums, worked for schools, districts, and universities across the United States and abroad. Westover holds an MEd from Arizona State University, an MA in Religion from Claremont School of Theology, and an EdM and a PhD in education and ethics from Harvard University.

This program is supported by a grant to the National Association of Japan America Societies (NAJAS) from the United States-Japan Foundation. We are grateful for their support.