Luiza Ansay Debuts Japan-Inspired Collection
Polish-born artist, actress and model Luiza Ansay, who lives between Paris, Istanbul and London, has recently unveiled a new collection of works in Monaco fusing elements of western-style art with traditional Japanese methods and processes.
This exhibition took place at the Garbarino Interior Design atelier and follows successful shows in Paris and Tokyo.
The collection, titled “Japonisme de Luiza”, features a diverse array of pieces which showcase a unique style and perspective forged with a global footprint, taking into account Luiza’s years living in cosmopolitan cities in Canada, China, Japan and France.
Luiza Ansay is a multidisciplinary artist with an international bearing, with time spent living in Tokyo perhaps the strongest influence on a multicultural artistic reckoning.
Five years in Japan’s capital saw Luiza learn nihonga, ikebana, origami, kimono dressing and traditional dance in a cultural exchange with a lifelong impact on her art.
Marrying these elements with her innately western perspective on creation has been instructive to Luiza’s prominent role in the international art scene over the last 19 years, with her known for using bold colours and striking imagery inspired by the Japonisme art movement.
“Japonisme de Luiza” is no exception, with mixed media paintings and various novel techniques found in no short supply across her most recent works.
The exhibition was not open to the public, however Monaco’s premier art enthusiasts were able to see the artwork through the showroom’s wide vitrine; invited guests were welcomed into an exclusive reception to discuss the work with Luiza.
Luiza said: “After Paris and Tokyo, I was happy to finally set up shop and showcase my artwork in Monaco, which holds a special place in my creative journey as an artist.
“The collection “Japonisme de Luiza” originated in Monaco in 2018 and my work here continues to this day. I believe that it was the contrast and paradoxical coherence of both worlds, Tokyo and Monaco, that inspired me to give life to visions of Japan through the lenses of a Western woman’s eye and imagination.”
A series of collections such as Hanami, Mirror and Ukiyoe featured extensively at 9 exhibitions between Tokyo and Paris in the lead up to Japonisme de Luiza.
The artist now marks this recent collection as the most evolved and prominent examples of her work and seeks to deliver back to Monaco a level of artistic inspiration she gained living and working here.
Luiza continued: “The use of gold seemed obvious, not only mimicking the screens and poetic visions of Ogata Korin, but also the newly revealed interiors of the Hotel de Paris.
“The vernissage was a great celebration of the most mature style of my artistic expression, bringing together important works in a purely Japanese setting of the Garbarino showroom, making it an excellent marriage.
“Besides the physical collection of paintings, I’ve created the NFT equivalent, as I believe it’s important to be open to new forms of art collecting. As a multidisciplinary artist, I’m constantly working on new projects and mediums and I’m always happy to invite viewers to my universe, in which my life in Japan has had an immense influence.
“My background is a symbiotic mix of cultural norms from both east and west and this informs heavily my tendency in creation. First of all, as a woman with European background and education, an upbringing in North America, then with my five years living in Japan and continuing relationship with its culture: I follow an artistic continuity of Japonisme in the history of art.”
