Amer Kobaslija: One Hundred Views of Kesennuma

Beginning February 23 and continuing through April 14th, the George Adams Gallery is presenting an exhibition of new paintings by Amer Kobaslija. The exhibition, “One Hundred Views of Kesennuma” (the title refers to the well-known series by Hokusai), was made in response to the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of the east coast of Japan almost exactly one year ago. The exhibition includes 27 small and large-scale paintings Kobaslija made after taking several trips to the area with his Japanese father-in-law last spring, summer, and fall.

Kobaslija’s effort to record the devastation stemmed not only from his relationship to the country and its people through his wife and her family, but also from his own experience of carnage and displacement as a young man in war-torn Bosnia. Working from both memory and photographs that Kobaslija took in and around Kesennuma, the paintings are less journalistic recordings of destruction than an attempt to express through paint the horror he witnessed while touring the Miyagi Prefecture. And, while some views are specific, for example “Kesen River from the Imaizumi Highway, June 11,” 2011, others such as “Imaginary View of Kesennuma Port,” 2011, and “Black Smoke,” 2012 are based on a combination of memory and imagination.

This is Kobaslija’s 5th solo exhibition with the gallery since his debut in 2006. He is currently an assistant professor of art at Gettysburg College, and has been a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Grant and Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant.

Exhibition Checklist

1.
Nainowaki Residential Area, May 7 II
2012
oil on wood panel
63 ¼ x 70 inches
AKop 154

2.
School Bus, Matsuiwa Elementary School, Kesennuma
2011
oil on zinc panel
12 x 16 inches
AKop 150

3.
Oisehama Beach, South Kesennuma, March 23
2011
oil on copper panel
10 7/8 x 18 inches
AKop 155

4.
Namiita District, Kesennuma, March 12
2011
oil on zinc panel
12 3/16 x 12 1/16
AKop 149

5.
Ruined House Near Kesennuma Port
2011
oil on copper panel
11 x 11 ½ inches
AKop 156

6.
Black Smoke
2012
oil on copper panel
27 x 24 inches
AKop 157

7.
Kesennuma Port: Nainowaki Residential Area, May 7th
2011
oil on copper panel
11 x 12 inches
AKop 158


8.
Flooded Field, Nainowaki, April 19
2011
oil on zinc panel
13 x 11 inches
AKop 152

9.
House near Higashihama Highway
2011
oil on copper panel
11 x 15 ½ inches
AKop 159

10.
Ships, Shinhamacho District
2011
oil on copper panel
12 x 18 inches
AKop 160

11.
View of Kesennuma I
2011
oil on zinc panel
31 x 16 inches
AKop 162

12.
House Near Higashihama Highway II
2012
oil on copper panel
34 x 47 7/8 inches
AKop 161

13.
View of Kesennuma II
2011
oil on copper panel
31 1/8 x 14 inches
AKop 163

14.
3/19 X, Kesennuma Port II
2011
oil on zinc panel
24 x 54 ¾ inches
AKop 164

15.
A Man Riding Bike, Kesennuma Port, March 18
2011
oil on copper panel
24 x 56 1/4 inches
AKop 165

16.
Black Smoke, Kesennuma, March 12
2011
oil on  copper panel
60 x 24 inches
AKop 171

17.
Kesennuma Harbor, March 23
2011
oil on copper panel
36 x 45 inches
AKop 166

18.
3/19 X, Kesennuma Port
2011
oil on zinc panel
11 x 25 inches
AKop 167

19.
Bathroom Apartment Building, Nainowaki, May 7
2011
oil on copper panel
9 5/8 x 11 inches
AKop 168

20.
Homes in Nishikicho Neighborhood of Kesennuma, March 18th
2011
oil on zinc panel
10 x 26 inches
AKop 169

21.
Rice Field, Matsuiwa District, Kesennuma
2011
oil on zinc panel
11 x 36 inches
AKop 147

22.
Kesennuma Port, March 18
2011
oil on wood panel
11 x 25 inches
AKop 146

23.
Ofunato Harbor, May 9
2011
oil on zinc panel
11 x 20 inches
AKop 151

24.
Nainowaki, March 23 (In Memory of Leslie Lerner)
2011
oil on zinc panel
9 ½ x 11 ½ inches
AKop 141

25.
Imaginary View of Kesennuma Port
2011
oil on zinc panel
13 1/8 x 24 inches
AKop 170

26.
Kesen River From the Imaizumi Highway, June 11
2011
oil on copper panel
11 x 20 inches
AKop 148

27.
Desolate Houses on Oisehama Beach, South Kesennuma
2011
oil on zinc panel
12 x 36 inches
AKop 153