Japanese Artist's Works Inspired by Faith On Display at Yale

An exhibition featuring the work of Japanese artist Soichi Watanabe will be on display at Yale Institute of Sacred Music, 409 Prospect Street, from January 26 to March 26, 2009. 

Titled “The Prodigal Son Returns: The Art of Soichi Watanabe,” the exhibition can be viewed weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

A resident of Koshigaya City, Saitama, Japan, Soichi Watanabe is the 2008–09 artist in residence at the Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Haven. Watanabe graduated in 1982 from the Ochanomizu Art School in Tokyo after having earned, a decade earlier, an economics degree from Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendai. He teaches at a private art school that he started in 1982. He is a member of the Japan Christian Art Association and the Asian Christian Art Association.

Watanabe’s oil paintings have been displayed in numerous solo exhibitions, including “The Encounter and the Hope” at Meiji Gakuin University,Tokyo, in 2000; “Prayer for Peace” at the Ein Karem Gallery, Tokyo, in 2006; “Meeting Jesus” in 1993 and “The Revelation of John” in 1999, both at the Nisshin Gallery, Tokyo; and “Make Straight the Way of Lord,”  Ginza Towa Gallery, Tokyo, in 2008.

In his book “Jesus Walking with Us” (2004), Watanabe writes, “I realize that [my works] are my own humble responses to God’s calling in my life… . The images are often given to me through the words of God, at worship services on Sundays, and during my daily devotion.”

The exhibition is presented by Yale Institute of Sacred Music in collaboration with the Overseas Ministries Study Center with support from Yale Divinity School.

For more information, call 203-432-5062 or log on to www.yale.edu/ism.