Street Nihonga Reflections
Read an interpretive text about one of Mirikitani’s works that is part of the Affinities and Connections section, written by his closest friends and documentarians, Linda Hattendorf and Masa Yoshikawa, together with curator Maki Kaneko. This text is reprinted from the exhibition catalogue, which features many more essays and analyses for those interested in exploring Mirikitani’s work in greater depth.
Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, untitled (“Shōchikubai”: pine, bamboo, plum; “the three friends of winter”), after 1999, Collection of Linda Hattendorf, Taos, New Mexico, EL2024.099
untitled (“Shōchikubai”: pine, bamboo, plum; “the three friends of winter”)
Hattendorf
This is one of the few works I have seen that Jimmy actually dated: 1999. This is “sidewalk time,” when Jimmy was living in Washington Square Park, before I knew him. Here he poses in front of what he called his “roots table”—a large tree stump that was just the right height for drawing. His spot in the park was conveniently located across from the Grey Art Gallery, part of NYU. Here, Jimmy is seen sitting by the sign for an exhibition there: “Rudy Burckhardt and Friends: New York Artists of the 1950s and 60s.” This exhibit took place in the spring of 2000. I can imagine that show was both interesting and infuriating to Jimmy, who was himself an artist in New York during that period, but likely not included in that official history. Thus, he inserted himself into the picture here, as well as a figure by Yasuo Kuniyoshi, a Japanese American artist Jimmy admired who also lived in New York at that time.
When I met Jimmy, he had recently moved from Washington Square Park to a street corner near my apartment in SoHo. Soon after I began filming him, he carefully pulled a grubby business card out of his pocket and asked me to “tell Shimomura I’m here now.” Artist Roger Shimomura had been visiting Jimmy in the park on his trips to New York. Roger’s earliest memories of being a child in camp inform much of his art—thus he and Jimmy had a natural affinity when they met. The photo on the right is Roger’s grandmother Toku Shimomura (1888–1968). She was a skilled midwife and kept a diary during her two years of confinement with her family in the Minidoka War Relocation Center. Her diary is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. Thanks to Roger’s efforts, several of Jimmy’s works are now in the Smithsonian as well.
Yoshikawa
This work features a photo of Roger Shimomura’s grandmother, Toku. In February 2001, when I met Jimmy for the first time, I also met Roger for the first time. Linda invited me to join them when Roger was coming to New York to see Jimmy. We met up at where Jimmy was and went to a Japanese restaurant nearby.
In this work, Jimmy wrote in Japanese (vertically) that Yasuo Kuniyoshi was Jimmy’s friend. Jimmy mentioned Kuniyoshi many times:
“There was ‘Ikari Art Gallery.’ Back then, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Kenzō Okada frequented there. Kuniyoshi saw my dragon and told me, ‘Keep painting. This painter will be significant. It had a color of Japan.’”
By the time I got to know Jimmy, there wasn’t Ikari Gallery in New York, but later I met someone who remembered it—it was in downtown New York and specialized in Japanese antiques, including samurai swords, armor, and other items.
Curator's Comment
Not much is known about Mirikitani’s artistic activities between the 1950s and the mid-1980s, yet the artist eloquently conveys his experiences and the networks he established in New York City—often through collage. In this piece, we find the names and images of a few artists alongside photographs of Mirikitani with his works: Roger Shimomura (b. 1939), represented by a black-and-white photo of his grandmother Toku; a fragmented image of a woman by the Japanese American artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889–1953); and possibly Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), whose photograph was included in the exhibition Rudy Burckhardt and Friends: New York Artists of the 1950s and 60s. Pollock frequently appeared in Mirikitani’s works. According to Mirikitani, he became acquainted with Pollock through a Japanese studies scholar at Columbia University, Ryūsaku Tsunoda (1877–1964). While working as a cook on Long Island, he struck up a friendship with Pollock, stayed in his studio in East Hampton, and they spent a wonderful time together.
The inscription of his Nihonga lineage, typically found at the bottom or corner of his works, is placed at the center of this piece—positioned between collaged images—visually linking his artistic heritage in Japan to his activities in New York.
Another eye-catching element is the set of characters for shō chiku bai (pine, bamboo, plum) pasted below Kuniyoshi’s female figure. These auspicious motifs, known as “The Three Friends of Winter,” symbolize steadfastness, perseverance, and renewal during the harshest season. Traditionally, they represent the ideal qualities of literati artists who remain strong and resilient in the face of adversity, a tradition Mirikitani was undoubtedly familiar with.