Opening Reception: Saturday, August 3, 5 – 9 pm

*During Fidelity Bank White Linen Night
 

Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present Crescendo, a solo exhibition of recent works by Ryoko Endo.
 

Ryoko Endo (b.1951) was born into a traditional family in Fukushima, Japan and has resided in New York since 1994. With a lifetime commitment to artistic growth and expression, she initially learned traditional Sumi ink calligraphy, then later developed a more fluid method of brushwork. This is a common technique in contemporary calligraphy, yet rarely applied to the discipline of acrylic painting, which gives her work a unique energy. Endo also spent 10 years mentoring under second generation Abstract Expressionist artist, Kikuo Saito. Her studies with Saito have profoundly affected the way in which she approaches color and color relationships.
 

The paintings are thick with many built up layers. A careful application of opaque and translucent paint application creates a push pull effect, that draws in the viewer. A successful painting has the perfect blend of harmony and discord created by the delicate balance and conflict in between the color and brushwork employed. This duality reflects one’s experience in life. -Ryoko Endo
 

Within Endo’s Crescendo exhibition is her consistent array of vibrantly colored and energetic abstract paintings. Unique within this body of work, is the exploration of a more expansive linear format. Several of these paintings are created on very long and narrow horizontal canvases, as seen in Scene 2 and Scene 3, while in others she has divided their vast lengths into three sections or triptychs, as seen in Crescendo and Crescendo 2. Another constant in Endo’s work is the way she creates a crescendo. Crescendo is defined as “the loudest point reached in a gradually increasing sound” or “the highest point reached in a progressive increase of intensity.” [1] In Endo’s Crescendo exhibition she explores gradual increases in intensity of color and force within the movement of her brushstrokes, like the way a musician would gradually increase the volume in music.
 

Ryoko Endo studied graphic design and typography at Musashino Art University in Tokyo and then furthered her studies in painting at the Art Students League, NY. Select exhibitions include ChaShaMa, NY; Arts Students League (and their satellite venues), NY; Octavia Art Gallery, LA & TX; as well as the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, NY; Art Wynwood, FL; and Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, FL. Endo has received scholarships from the Fantasy Fountain Fund and the Trudy and Henry Gillette Painting scholarship. She was awarded a grant from Lloyd Sherwood and received both the Red and Blue Dot awards through the Arts Students League, NY. Endo’s work is in private collections worldwide and in the permanent collection of Mount Sinai Hospital, NY.
 

[1] Oxford Languages Online.