Clara Leigh Mikimoto
Born in 1979,Japan
Exhibition
2019 Able Fine Art NY Gallery, New York, USA
2018 Able Fine Art NY Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2017 2 People Exhibition, Able Fine Art NY Gallery, New York, USA
2016 Solo Exhibition, Able Fine Art NY Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2015 Solo Exhibition, Able Fine Art NY Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2015 Solo Exhibition, Able Fine Art NY Gallery, New York, USA
2015 Group Exhibition, Able Fine Art NY Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2015 Group Exhibition, Able Fine Art NY Gallery, New York, USA
Art Fair
2024 Context MIAMI. USA
2024 AAF Singapore. USA
2024 AAF new york. USA
2024 Seattle art fair. USA
2024 AAF Hong Kong Hong Kong
2024 San Francisco Art Fair USA
2024 LA Art Show USA
2023 Scope MiamiBeach art Fair, Miami, USA
2023 Context Miami, Miami, USA
2023 Aaf Singapore. Singapore
2023 Aaf Battersea Park. London UK
2023 Art on Paper. USA
2023 Aaf New York, USA
2023 Hampton Fine Art New York, USA
2023 AAF Sydney. Austria
2023 AAF hong kong_HONG kONG
2023 AAF Brussels. Belgium
2022 Red dot Miami. Miami USA
2022 Aaf Singapore. Singapore
2022 Aaf Battersea Park. London UK
2022 Art on Paper. USA
2019 Context Miami, Miami, USA
2019 Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019 Affordable Art Fair Battersea Park, London, UK
2019 Art Expo Malaysia, MECC, Malaysia
2019 Affordable Art Fair Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
2019 Affordable Art Fair Hampstead, Hampstead, UK
2019 Affordable Art Fair Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
2019 London Art Fair, London, UK
2018 Context Miami, Miami, USA
2018 Affordable Art Fair Battersea Park, London, UK
2018 Art Expo, New York, USA
2018 Context NY, New York, USA
2018 Art Expo, Las Vegas, USA
2017 Affordable Art Fair Battersea Park, London, UK
2017 Affordable Art Fair New York, New York, USA
2017 GIAF, Changwon, Korea
2017 Art Gyeongju, Gyeongju, Korea
2017 Art Show Busan, Busan, Korea
2017 Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2017 Affordable Art Fair Singapore, Singapore
2017 Architectural Digest Design Show, PIERS 92 & 94, New York, USA
2017 Art Up, Parc Expo Rouen, Avenue des Canadiens, France
2017 LA Art Show, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, USA
2016 ST.ART Fair, Strasbourg, France
2016 AAF Singapore, Singapore
2016 Daegu Art Fair, Daegu, Korea
2016 ART.FAIR Cologne, Cologne, Germany
2016 Affordable Art Fair Battersea, London, UK
2016 Affordable Art Fair Seoul, Seoul, Korea
2016 Art Hamptons Market, NY, USA
2016 Art Hamptons, NY, USA
2016 Art Busan, Busan, Korea
2016 Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2016 Art Gyeongju, Gyeongju, Korea
2016 Affordable Art Fair Milano, Milano, Italy
2016 LA ART SHOW 2016, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, USA
2015 Daegu Art Fiar, Daegu, Korea
2015 Affordable Art Fair Battersea, London, UK
2015 Korea International Art Fair (KIAF), COEX, Seoul, Korea
2015 Affordable Art Fair Battersea, London, UK
2015 Baltimore Antique Fair, Baltimore, USA
2015 SEOUL OPEN ART FAIR (SOAF), COEX, Seoul, Korea
2015 Art Busan, Busan, Korea
2015 Art Gyeongju, Gyeongju, Korea
2014 Baltimore Antique Fair, Baltimore, USA
2014 Affordable Art Fair London Hampstead, London, UK
2014 Affordable Art Fair Singapore, Singapore
2014 Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2014 Art Expo New York, New York, USA
2013 Red Dot Miami, Miami, USA
2013 Affordable Art Fair London Battersea, London, UK
2013 Affordable Art Fair Singapore, Singapore
2013 Affordable Art Fair New York, New York, USA
The Silent Music of Clara Leigh Mikimoto
- Mary Gregory
Finding resonances with earlier artists who worked in collage and ready-mades, artist Clara Leigh has developed a body of work that sings in a unique voice.
In the early 1900s, artists like Picasso, Braque and Gris built complex works of art out of paint and canvas, but also newspaper, books, wood, and, occasionally, sheet music. As the vision evolved, so did the expression, and the materials used to accomplish it grew wider and more varied. For Picasso, the guitar was a magical object, as could be seen in a recent exhibition at the Museum of Modern in New York. The guitar was constructed, deconstructed, built and depicted over and over in his work in two and three dimensions.
Leigh finds her inspiration primarily in the sensuous, sinuous lines of the violin. Perhaps no other instrument suggests the human form as much as does the curving, narrow-waisted violin. Man Ray's classic Dada image Ingre's Violin comes to mind viewing Leigh's multi-layered compositions.
Sheet music, intentionally stained to suggest the passage of years, forms the foundation of her constructions, as it does for a musical performance. Leigh's collaged pages of written music are then covered by parts of, or sometimes complete musical instruments. Violins and bows are the primary focus, but wind instruments and brass are also sometimes incorporated.
The effect Leigh creates is a multi-media experience of music that is, strangely, mute. The viewer can see the shine and warmth of metal or polished wood. He or she can see the complex technicality of notes arranged on a page. But to hear the music, the artist calls upon memory and imagination.
Art is not a direct form of communication. There is, hopefully, always something lost, something gained, something changed by the act of creation, and again, in the act of seeing. It is a mysterious gift that can never be experienced the same way twice.
Music has been an inspiration for visual artists for ages. Renaissance angels play lutes in the heavens. Painters from the Baroque to Cubism and beyond have depicted flutes and violins in still-life compositions and portraiture. Vermeer's beautiful women never looked better than at their music lessons.
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